Mexican Visitor Killed After Fleeing ICE Agents in St. Augustine, Florida

On Tuesday, 28-year-old Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán of Guanajuato, México, was struck by a semi-tractor trailer after running onto State Road 16 in St. Augustine. Florida Highway Patrol reports that ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents had confronted four occupants of a car near a Wawa gas station; Coronilla Durán fled, entered the roadway, and was hit by the truck, dying at the scene. His wife, Yésica Alamilla López, arrived from Mexico to claim his body and said he was in the United States on a tourist visa, having been in Florida for only two days.

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Coronilla Durán’s death is the third fatality linked to an ICE encounter in less than a week, following the July 7 shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Texas, and a July 12 shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine. Unlike the Texas and Maine incidents, the St. Augustine death resulted from a traffic collision rather than law-enforcement gunfire, but it has intensified scrutiny of immigration-enforcement tactics.

Newsweek

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a brief statement: “On July 14, DHS law enforcement conducted an operation near St. Johns, Florida. Florida Highway Patrol and HSI are investigating an incident resulting in the death of a Mexican national. We will provide an update when available.” Florida Highway Patrol confirmed the semi-truck driver stopped and attempted to render aid, but the victim died at the scene. The Mexican Consulate in Orlando began processing the repatriation of Coronilla Durán’s remains.

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Democratic officials and immigrant-rights groups have linked the death to broader concerns about ICE’s “out-of-control” operations. State Representative Angie Nixon, a U.S. Senate candidate, posted on X that the tragedy is “a direct result of an out-of-control agency terrorizing our communities and our state. Abolish ICE.” Immigrant-rights advocates argue that aggressive enforcement increases the risk of dangerous confrontations for undocumented and visa-holding individuals alike.

Newsweek

• “He had a tourist visa and had been here in the United States for a short time — only three weeks,” — Yésica Alamilla López, wife

Spectrum News 13 Central Florida

• “He had been in Florida for just two days.” — Yésica Alamilla López, wife

Spectrum News 13 Central Florida

• “My heart breaks for the family and loved ones of the person who lost their life this morning in St. Johns County. This tragedy is a direct result of an out-of-control agency terrorizing our communities and our state. Abolish ICE.” — Angie Nixon, State Representative

Newsweek

• “On July 14, DHS law enforcement conducted an operation near St. Johns, Florida. Florida Highway Patrol and HSI are investigating an incident resulting in the death of a Mexican national. We will provide an update when available.” — Department of Homeland Security statement

Newsweek