'Super-dumb kids.' Teen migrant smuggler accused of murder in deadly West El Paso crash

Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times
·2 min read
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An 18-year-old suspected smuggler is accused of murder in the death of a Mexican migrant when a car running from Texas state troopers crashed in West El Paso last week.

Mikel Steve Fernandez faces charges of murder, smuggling of persons resulting in death and evading arrest causing a death.

About 5:20 a.m. Friday, Fernandez was allegedly transporting migrants in an Infiniti G37 and speeding down the wrong direction trying to get away from a state trooper when he smashed into a Nissan Altima on North Mesa Street near Resler Drive.

A 26-year-old man, an undocumented migrant from the southern Mexico state of Chiapas, died in the crash. People in the Nissan weren't injured.

Teen's $3M bond reduced

Fernandez was jailed on what his defense lawyer, Denise Butterworth, described as an "insanely high" bond of $3 million, which Magistrate Judge Linda Estrada reduced to $660,000 at a Wednesday teleconference hearing.

A pair of crutches leaned against a wall next to Fernandez, who was in a jail jumpsuit, on the teleconference video from the El Paso County Jail in Downtown.

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The deadly collision is part of the trend of youthful border migrant smugglers leading law enforcement officers on vehicle chases in El Paso almost daily.

"This is the unfortunate new popular way for super-dumb kids to make money, that is the reality, that's what's happening here," Butterworth said at the hearing. "... These cases are scary for all of us."

Crews remove a car involved in human smuggling following a deadly crash on March 17 on North Mesa Street near Pitt Street in West El Paso.
Crews remove a car involved in human smuggling following a deadly crash on March 17 on North Mesa Street near Pitt Street in West El Paso.

Fernandez, who lives with his mother in Sunland Park, New Mexico, is not a violent person who intended to kill anyone and the deadly collision was the tragic result of "just dumb luck," Butterworth said.

But even after crashing, Fernandez allegedly ran away before he was found hiding nearby with $1,300 strewn on the ground, Assistant District Attorney Ray Duke pointed out at the hearing.

Fernandez allegedly told investigators that he had been smuggling migrants for the past three years and was paid $300 per person, Duke said.

"For $300, this man lost his life," Duke said, referring to the victim. In 2021, Fernandez was arrested in New Mexico for allegedly harboring, or transporting, undocumented migrants, he added.

A man places a damaged part of a car that was torn off when it was struck by a car suspected of smuggling undocumented migrants on the morning, on March 17 on North Mesa Street near Resler Drive in West El Paso.
A man places a damaged part of a car that was torn off when it was struck by a car suspected of smuggling undocumented migrants on the morning, on March 17 on North Mesa Street near Resler Drive in West El Paso.

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"The facts are sad all the way around. I'm personally heartbroken for the individual who lost his life in this," said Butterworth, adding that the crash should be a "wake up call to law enforcement as well (who) chase these individuals for this immigration crime."

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso teen migrant smuggler accused of murder crash