WINTERVILLE, NC - The death toll caused by illegal alien drivers claimed another victim earlier this month when 62-year-old Christopher Babcock was killed while riding his motorcycle on US 13. The suspect vehicle did not stop and fled the scene. The crash occurred in a rural area of Pitt County, N.C., WNCN reported at the time.
This week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that 25-year-old Erasto Lopez-Gomez, an illegal alien from Mexico, had been charged with felony hit-and-run in connection with the crash that took Babcock’s life.
For Donna Babcock, the senseless death of her husband still stings.
“I’m broken. This person took my life that day as well,” she told WNCN.
Investigators got a break in the case when they recovered an image from Babcock’s phone captured at the moment of impact.
“I watched the video that my husband recorded, and I literally watched my husband die,” Donna Babcock said.
Investigators determined they were looking for a dark gray SUV believed to have been involved in the fatal crash.
That evidence led authorities to Lopez-Gomez.
After Lopez-Gomez was arrested, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer against him to ensure he is not released from jail into the country at large.
Lopez Gomez was initially apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents near Tucson, Arizona, after illegally crossing the southern border, DHS said in a release. He was then released into the country under the Biden administration.
“This criminal illegal alien should have NEVER been in our country and able to kill Christopher Babcock,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. “The Biden Administration’s catch and release policies let this criminal into our community, and now a widow is mourning the loss of her husband. This is the second hit-and-run by an illegal alien just this week. These preventable tragedies are the result of the previous administration’s open border policies.”
DHS announced that victims of illegal alien crime may receive support from the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office by contacting 1-855-488-6423.
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