SAN ANTONIO – A memorial service has been held, remembering the 53 lives lost in one of the deadliest human smuggling tragedies in U.S. history.
At 10 a.m. on Saturday, nearly three years to the day of the tragedy, a crowd of supporters, activists, and family members gathered to remember the 54 lives lost on Quintana Road on the South Side.
The services come just one day after two people implicated in the plot to smuggle the victims into the U.S., from mostly Mexico and Central America, which ended wth the victims being left for dead, trapped inside a scorching hot metal shipping container under the south Texas sun.
The judge overseeing the case made a note to add an additional charge, as one of the victims had been pregnant at the time of her death, raising the death toll of the tragedy to 54.
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Felipe Orduna-Torres was sentenced on Friday to two consecutive life terms plus an additional 20-year sentence for his role in the tragedy.
Armando Gonzales-Ortega received a sentence of more than 87 years for his involvement. Both had been found guilty on March 18.
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Luis Alberto Rivera-Leal aka Cowboy, 38, a Mexican national, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens, placing lives in jeopardy, in February of 2024.
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Prosecutors maintained that Orduna-Torres had been informed of the situation as it was unfolding, with the trailer’s cooling system having failed, and the migrants desperately trying to escape.
The mighrants, which each had paid between $12,000 and $15,000 each t be brought into the United States, had made it as far as Laredo, before being loaded into the trailer bound for San Antonio.
As the temperature rose inside the trailer, those inside screamed and banged the walls of the trailer for help or tried to claw their way out, investigators said. Most eventually passed out. When the trailer was opened in San Antonio, 48 people were already dead. Another 16 were taken to hospitals, where five more died.
This tragedy comes as part of ongoing disputes surrounding immigration, border security, and trying to preserve the life and safety of immigrants, while preventing crime.