Teen Killed After Rejecting Advances — Questions Raised About ICE, Licenses and Enforcement
A 16-year-old girl is dead after a confrontation outside a Queens bar turned deadly. It happened in the early hours of Saturday. The victim was walking with her mother and friends.
Police say the driver, identified as Edwin Cruz-Gomez, climbed a curb and pinned the teen against a pillar. She did not survive. Her mother did.
Officials say Cruz-Gomez was intoxicated. He allegedly had a suspended license. Court records and reporting show past DUI trouble earlier this year.
The New York Post reported on the drunk driving and murder:
The crazed drunk driver accused of mowing down a 16-year-old on a Queens sidewalk after she rejected his lewd advances was charged with murder Saturday night — and it’s not the first time he was nabbed driving under the influence.
Driving with a suspended license, Edwin Cruz-Gomez, 38, allegedly plowed a 2009 Chevy Suburban into teen Jhoanny Gomez-Alvarez following a heated fight with the girl, her boyfriend, her mother and the mother’s friend Saturday morning outside an Elmhurst bar.
Earlier in the year, he had been charged with driving while intoxicated on the Southern State Parkway in Long Island, according to court papers obtained by The Post.
His license was suspended following the Jan. 26 incident.
This case has layers. There’s the violence. There’s the public-safety angle. And there’s immigration enforcement.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin: Per ICE sources, the drunk driver arrested by NYPD for murder on Saturday after he fatally mowed down a 16-year-old girl who rejected his sexual advances is a previously deported Honduran illegal alien w/ multiple prior DUI arrests. I’m told he was also ignored by ICE after an October 2024 arrest for possession of a forged instrument because the Biden administration didn’t consider him an immigration enforcement priority.
People are asking tough questions. How does someone with prior DUI charges, a suspended license, and an immigration record end up back on the street? How was a previous deportation followed by reentry and more arrests? Those are valid concerns.
Families want answers. So do voters. This is the kind of case that fuels calls for stricter enforcement and clearer priorities. It should also force local and federal leaders to explain how this happened and who dropped the ball.
At its core, this is a human tragedy. A teen lost her life. Her family deserves justice. The system deserves scrutiny.