Identities released for most victims in deadly El Paso crash after Border Patrol chase; 5 from Guatemala
EL PASO, Texas — El Paso police on Wednesday released the identities for most of the seven people killed and three injured when a car that had been pursued by the U.S. Border Patrol crashed in downtown last week.
Five of the ten victims, according to police, were from Guatemala.
The identities as well as ages and nationalities of the victims are as follows:
- Driver: 18 –year old Gustavo Cervantes (deceased) of El Paso
- Passenger 1: 21-year old Oscar Miguel Garcia-Bran (deceased) of Guatemala
- Passenger 2: 19 –year old Elvira Tot-Chiroy (deceased) of Guatemala
- Passenger 3: 16 –year old Liliana Jimenez, El Paso resident (deceased)
- Passenger 4: 19 –year old tentative ID, El Paso resident (deceased) pending next of kin
- Passenger 5: 16- year old Yadira Barrera El Paso resident (deceased)
- Passenger 6: 32-year old Santos Porfirio-Garcia, (deceased) of Guatemala
- Passenger 7: 16 –year old male of Juarez, Chih., MX
- Passenger 8: 18 –year old Omar Misael Coyoy of Guatemala
- Passenger 9: 25 –year old Wilmer Gomez-Gomez of Guatemala
A police spokesman noted that "any discrepancies in names and/or
nationalities listed on the initial release are due to fraudulent identification(s) found on the bodies of the deceased, or information provided by the injured."
The Border Patrol has said in a prior statement that the four-door sedan carrying the ten people was being chased because agents believed it was involved in a human smuggling effort, a claim that some of the victims' families have questioned.
The crash following that chase, at 2:15 a.m. last Thursday near the intersection of Paisano Street and San Antonio Avenue, is believed to be one of the deadliest in El Paso history.
