GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — At the tree on Century Avenue where Mario David Coronado Juarez died in a car crash on Sunday after fleeing from a traffic stop conducted by ICE, a crowd of hundreds huddled shoulder to shoulder, singing songs and calling for justice.
Juarez had been working construction jobs in Grand Rapids, sending the money he earned back to his wife and three children in Guatemala.
When relatives in the area first visited the scene of the crash, they found receipts of Juarez's recent wire transfers among the debris.
On Thursday, flowers and candles took their place.
"Who was Mario? He loved God. He was a man of integrity. He attended church. He was a Christian man," said Karla Barberi, who helped lead the vigil.
Barberi said that Juarez, who had crossed the border illegally, knew he had limited time in the country under the current administration, which left him "no choice but to work seven days a week so he could provide for his family."
Juarez, she said, had wanted to build them a new house.
"Why did he flee? When you live under those conditions, you will flee because you have to grasp until the last second to try to have your family live with dignity," Barberi said.
The Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday that Juarez was not the intended target of the traffic stop.
In a release, the DHS said ICE officers on Sunday had attempted to stop a car registered to a "known criminal alien" who had multiple, alcohol-related offenses to his name.
When officers attempted to confirm the identity of the driver, the department said they drove away at a "high rate of speed."
"In the interest of public safety," according to DHS, officers did not chase the car but a short time later found that it had crashed into a tree and caught on fire.
The driver died at the scene and DHS would later learn that it was Juarez who was at the wheel. But while the Guatemalan man had been living in the country illegally, the department said he was not the registered owner of the car and therefore not the intended target of the stop.
Grand Rapids
DHS: Man who died in car crash after fleeing ICE wasn't target of traffic stop
"What happened Sunday morning cannot go without justice being served," Barberi said.
"They're trying to say that he was a criminal," she said. "Yeah, he did cross the border like many of us, but that doesn't make him a disposable person."
Those who attended the vigil on Thursday passed around buckets for cash and coins, trying to raise enough money to bring Juarez's body back to Guatemala so his family can give their final farewells before he is buried.
Movimiento Cosecha Grand Rapids, a grassroots group that advocates for immigrants, says it wants all relevant body and dash camera from the incident released to the public, and also an independent investigation into the traffic stop and crash.
Michigan State Police is investigating what led to the deadly crash and the Grand Rapids Police Department, who is also investigating, has said it had "no involvement in and no knowledge of the situation" before being called to the crash site.
"May his story be known, Barberi said. "May justice be served."
Grand Rapids
