A man who was mistakenly deported from Florida to Honduras last year after allegedly killing three passengers in a drunken car crash — cops accusing him of slamming into a gas station sign while driving more than 125 mph in a 40 mph zone — has been arrested abroad.
Sources close to the investigation confirmed to Law&Crime on Wednesday that Erwin Zuniga, 26, was arrested in Spain following the 2022 crash. Federal officials are currently working to extradite him to Miami-Dade County, where he is accused of killing 19-year-old Paola Sabillon, her boyfriend Jason Meza, and his cousin Giselle Reyes, all passengers in his vehicle, after being deported by the Biden administration, according to police.
Zuniga allegedly had a blood alcohol level of 0.123 and THC in his system at the time of the collision. Police say he lost control of his vehicle and collided with a gas station sign on West Flagler Street in Miami.
Witnesses claim Zuniga drank five or six shots of whiskey before driving the group to a local club that night. A fourth passenger suffered critical injuries but survived.
Zuniga’s arrest comes nearly a year after he was mistakenly deported to Honduras, his home country, due to a reported error by the Miami-Dade jail while handling his custody, according to NBC affiliate WTVJ.
While illegally present in the United States, Zuniga was supposed to remain in Miami on house arrest to face his charges, which included three counts of DUI manslaughter and three counts of reckless vehicular homicide (WTVJ).
The Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department reportedly accepted responsibility for Zuniga’s deportation and informed local media outlets that several officers would be disciplined. However, details about what happened were not made public, according to WTVJ. The families of Zuniga’s alleged victims reportedly expressed displeasure with his deportation after it occurred on September 6.
“Very mad,” Sabillon’s sister, Miriam Castillo, told local Fox and ABC affiliate WSVN. “If we have to walk outside the courthouse, and if we have to make noise, we will make noise, because he has to come back,” Castillo promised. “He has to come back, and he has to pay for what he did.”
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Laura Shearon Cruz reportedly told the families in court that she was also disappointed with what happened, stating, “We only found out when we had no idea where the defendant was, before we started the case for trial.”
Cruz went on to say, “These are definitely heinous crimes.”
