Illegal migrant with huge rap sheet remained free due to liberal state loophole then 'kills mom and daughter'
Raul Luna-Perez, 43, a Mexican national living in the US illegally has a long rap sheet and two DUI arrests in just the last four months together with multiple arrests for drunk driving, domestic violence, and hit-and-run.
Luna-Perez had been living illegally in Red Bank since early 2023 and was able to remain free under New Jersey's sanctuary policies.
On the night of July 26, police say Luna-Perez's speeding SUV veered into the wrong lane in Lakewood and smashed into a Nissan Sentra carrying 42-year-old Maria Santos Pleitez and her daughter Dayanara Cortes, killing them both and critically injuring another child.
He has been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and assault by auto after his speeding Dodge Durango slammed into Pleitez's car.
Pleitez was killed instantly. Dayanara, who had been sitting beside her in the front seat, died shortly after arriving at the hospital.
The surviving passenger, Dayanara's friend, was in critical condition but has since been upgraded to stable.
Luna-Perez and two passengers in his vehicle walked away with minor injuries.
According to authorities, Luna-Perez showed signs of intoxication at the scene and had his blood drawn at the hospital.
Formal toxicology results are pending, but prosecutors say additional charges could be filed once they arrive.
The tragedy has triggered a furious backlash from the Trump administration and immigration officials, who are blaming New Jersey's sanctuary policies for allowing a man with multiple prior arrests to remain at large.
'Governor Murphy and his sanctuary policies released this serial criminal into New Jersey communities,' said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
'Now, this innocent family is shattered by their failed leadership. President Trump and Secretary Noem will continue to do everything in their power to remove these criminal illegal aliens before they destroy more lives.
'Every crime committed by an illegal alien is 100 percent preventable - they should have never been in our country to begin with,' added White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson.
'This tragedy underscores how dangerous sanctuary jurisdictions are and how critical it is to deport criminal illegal aliens from the country. President Trump is committed to fulfilling the mandate he was elected on: deporting criminal illegal aliens and making America safe again.'
The horrific crash occurred at the intersection of Cross Street and Hearthstone Drive in Lakewood around 11.20pm as Pleitez was driving with her daughter and her daughter's friend to a local Wawa to get milkshakes.
'She was the head of the family, and she was bringing up her two daughters,' her niece, Maria del Carmen Pleitez, told the New York Post.
'She had her own apartment, her own place, and she never asked for help for anything. She was just such a hardworking woman.'
Pleitez, a native of El Salvador who immigrated to the US 24 years ago, leaves behind her surviving daughter and a devastated extended family now scrambling to raise funds to return the bodies to El Salvador for burial.
A GoFundMe campaign has already raised more than $30,500.
Records show Luna-Perez had a years-long history of brushes with the law including a 2008 arrest for disorderly conduct, a 2023 domestic violence charge, and a hit-and-run.
He was also arrested twice for driving under the influence this year alone - once on March 20, and again on April 17, yet was able to remain free.
Despite his extensive rap sheet, Luna-Perez was never turned over to immigration authorities and remained on the streets thanks in part to New Jersey's status as a 'sanctuary state', a designation made official in 2018 under Governor Phil Murphy's administration.
That year then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal issued the Immigrant Trust Directive, which restricted local police from sharing immigration information with federal authorities and barred them from asking suspects about their immigration status.
Luna-Perez is now being held at Ocean County Jail in Toms River on an active ICE detainer. But Maria del Carmen Pleitez, Pleitzez's niece says deportation isn't enough.
'I don't believe that's fair. I feel they have to try him here, and bring justice to him here,' she told The Post.
New Jersey prosecutors have refused to discuss Luna-Perez's immigration status, citing state disclosure laws.
Red Bank itself is not officially a sanctuary city, but in 2017 it passed a resolution declaring its support for undocumented immigrants.
Trump officials are pointing to the tragedy as a vivid example of what they say is the danger of progressive immigration policies that protect repeat offenders.
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