Deported Fairfax County Teen Dies Trying To Return To U.S.

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA—A deported teen that grew up in Fairfax County was one of 10 that died in an overheated truck smuggling undocumented immigrants into the U.S.

Police discovered the truck behind a San Antonio, Texas Walmart after midnight on Sunday, June 23. Eight people were found dead in the overheated truck, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At least 30 to 40 undocumented immigrants were found in the back of the truck.

One of the deceased is Frank Fuentes, 19, who died from heat exposure and asphyxiation, according to the the Guatemalan government. Fuentes came to the U.S. as a young child from Guatemala and grew up in Northern Virginia, The Washington Post reports. His Facebook page indicates he graduated from J.E.B. Stuart High School in the Falls Church area of the county. (Sign up for real time alerts and a newsletter. iPhone users can download the Patch app in the App Store.)

Watch: The Texas Smuggling Case: 5 Things You Need to Know

On March 2, Fuentes was deported after being convicted of assault and battery by a mob last year. ICE also believes he had ties to the MS-13 gang. He had been part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, but his stay expired in June 2016.

A friend pushed back against the claim that Fuentes was involved with the gang. “Growing up where we grew up, it was just easier for the government to label him as a statistic and say that he was affiliated with a gang,” Juan Benitez told The Post. “Growing up in a rough neighborhood we stayed away from people like that. It was the only way to be safe.”

Another classmate has set up a GoFundMe to raise funds for the family. Kelly Barrios-Mazariegos, who organized the page and attended high school with Fuentes, told The Post she talked to him after he was sent to Guatemala. "He doesn’t know what Guatemala was. His home is here, his friends are here, his family is here," she told the newspaper.

Federal authorities are investigating the smuggling operation and have filed a criminal complaint against the driver.

The driver, James Matthew Bradley Jr., 60, claims he was driving from Texas to Iowa and did not realize people were in the back of the truck until he stopped in San Antonio. According to the criminal complaint, Bradley said potentially 30 to 40 more people fled from the truck before authorities arrived.

A few of the undocumented immigrants told authorities that people had been illegally smuggled into Texas at different times. One said he was told to pay $5,500 to be smuggled to San Antonio. He described the trailer as pitch black with no food or water and about 70 people inside. During the trip, several people passed out, and some unsuccessfully banged on the walls to get the driver to stop. The witnesses did not see who the driver was.

Watch: At Least 9 Found Dead Inside Hot Tractor-Trailer In San Antonio

"To maximize their criminal profits, these human smugglers crammed more than 100 people into a tractor trailer in the stifling Texas summer heat resulting in 10 dead and 29 others hospitalized," said Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan in a statement. "Human smugglers have repeatedly demonstrated that they have absolutely no regard for human life."

Bradley is charged with smuggling immigrants for financial gain resulting in death. He could face maximum penalties of life in prison or the death penalty.

Image via GoFundMe