Speeding Drunk Driver Nearly Triple DUI Limit In Crash That Killed Mom, Daughter, Prosecutor Says

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The driver charged in the deaths of a Lakewood woman and her daughter had a blood alcohol concentration of nearly triple the legal limit and was speeding at the time he hit their vehicle head-on, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Raul Luna-Perez, 43, now is charged with two counts of aggravated manslaughter and two counts of strict liability vehicular homicide in the crash that killed Maria S. Pleitez, 42, of Lakewood, and her daughter, Dayanara Cortes, 11, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said Thursday.

Luna-Perez previously had been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of assault by auto in the crash that happened about 11:20 p.m. on July 26. Pleitez was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash and Dayanara died at Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood early on July 27, according to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case.

A second 11-year-old girl was a passenger in Pleitez's car; she was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune and was in serious but stable condition after the crash, authorities said. An update on her condition was not available Thursday.

Luna-Perez, who has been living in Red Bank but was not in the United States legally, was driving his Dodge Durango east on Cross Street and Pleitez was driving west on Cross Street in a Nissan Sentra when she was hit head-on.

A witness told Lakewood police at the scene that the Durango had come up behind him quickly at high speed. The witness said he braced for impact because he thought he was going to be hit from behind but the Durango then passed him on the left and stayed in that lane, hitting the Sentra near the intersection with Hearthstone Drive, according to the affidavit.

Luna-Perez was driving 60 mph and had passed four vehicles before hitting the Sentra, the prosecutor's office said Thursday.

Lakewood police found Luna-Perez standing outside the Durango when they arrived after the crash, and said he was stumbling and had glassy eyes. He told a Lakewood police officer he had four beers before getting behind the wheel, the affidavit said.

Luna-Perez and his passenger, a 31-year-old woman, were taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center as a precaution, authorities said. The woman was treated for minor injuries and released.

Luna-Perez's blood was drawn at the hospital early July 27 under a court-authorized search warrant, authorities said. Preliminary lab results of that blood draw showed his blood alcohol concentration was at least 0.19 at the time of the draw, the prosecutor's office said.

"Based on the dissipation of BAC over time, it is estimated that his BAC would have been approximately three times the legal limit at the time of the crash," the prosecutor's office said. A driver is presumed to be drunk with a BAC of .08 or greater in New Jersey.

Luna-Perez had been held in the Ocean County Jail initially and an immigration detainer placed on him on July 28. Billhimer said Luna-Perez was released from the county jail on strict home confinement under New Jersey's bail reform rules but was transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

The Department of Homeland Security later announced it was starting deportation proceedings against Luna-Perez, who has multiple charges of driving under the influence on his record, authorities said.

Billhimer said detectives from the prosecutor's office and Lakewood Police Department arrested Luna-Perez at the ICE detention facility in Elizabeth on Thursday morning and brought him back to the Ocean County Jail.

"We will seek to detain this defendant once again," Billhimer said. "Thanks to the cooperation of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Luna-Perez has been returned to Ocean County to face these upgraded charges. His return sends a clear message that our federal partners share in our mission to hold those individuals that commit serious crimes accountable — regardless of their immigration status," Billhimer said.

Family members are continuing to raise money through a GoFundMe campaign to return the bodies of Maria S. Pleitez and Dayanara Cortes to Pleitez's home country of El Salvador. The campaign created by Pleitez's niece, Maria Celina Aguilar, had raised just over $31,000 as of Thursday morning. Those wishing to donate can do so here.