Left inset: Erwin Zuniga (Miami-Dade County). Right insets: Paola Sabillon, her boyfriend Jason Meza, and his cousin Giselle Reyes (WTVJ/YouTube). Background: The crash scene after Erwin Zuniga allegedly slammed into a gas station sign in Miami, Fla., in 2022 (WTVJ/YouTube).
A man who was accidentally deported from Florida to Honduras last year after allegedly killing three passengers in a drunken car crash — with cops accusing him of slamming into a gas station sign while going more than 125 mph in a 40 mph zone — has been arrested overseas.
Sources close to the investigation confirmed to Law&Crime on Wednesday that Erwin Zuniga, who was 26 at the time of the 2022 crash, was arrested in Spain. Federal officials are currently working to extradite him to Miami-Dade County, where he is facing multiple charges for allegedly killing 19-year-old Paola Sabillon, her boyfriend Jason Meza, and his cousin Giselle Reyes — all passengers in his vehicle — after he was deported by the Biden administration, police say.
Zuniga allegedly had a blood alcohol level of 0.123 and had THC in his system at the time of the crash. Cops say he lost control of his vehicle and hit a gas station sign on West Flagler Street in Miami.
Zuniga was allegedly spotted by witnesses taking around five or six shots of whiskey before getting behind the wheel that night to drive the group to a local club. A fourth passenger who was with them was critically injured, but survived.
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Zuniga”s arrest comes nearly a year after he was accidentally deported to Honduras, where he is originally from, due to a reported mistake by the Miami-Dade jail while handling his custody, according to NBC affiliate WTVJ.
While Zuniga was unlawfully present in the U.S., he was supposed to remain in Miami on house arrest to face his charges, which include three counts of DUI manslaughter and three counts of reckless vehicular homicide, per WTVJ.
The Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department reportedly took responsibility for Zuniga’s deportation and told local media outlets that a number of officers would be disciplined. But the details about what happened exactly were not made public, according to WTVJ. The families of Zuniga’s alleged victims reportedly voiced their disgust with his deportation after it occurred on Sept. 6.
“Very mad,” said Miriam Castillo, Sabillon’s sister, in an interview with 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 said. “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 by what happened, saying: “We only found out when we had no idea where the defendant was, before we started the case for trial.”
Cruz added, “These are definitely heinous crimes.”
