A 9-month-old boy is dead after an illegal immigrant from Guatemala allegedly struck his mother and the stroller carrying him and his 5-year-old sister in the parking lot of a kosher grocery store in Jackson, New Jersey, on Friday.
Maria Cobon-Guzman has been charged with manslaughter in the crash, according to authorities. All three victims were rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. The mother and the 5-year-old survived and remained in stable condition. The infant did not.
A second woman, Ariadna Lazaro-Flores, was also charged after she reportedly let Cobon-Guzman drive her car despite knowing Cobon-Guzman had no license. An inmate report lists Lazaro-Flores’s charge as “endangering the welfare of an incompetent person.”
Both women entered the United States illegally during the Biden administration. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Lazaro-Flores crossed illegally five times in October 2023 and was removed each time, most recently re-entering “through the Biden Administration’s open border at an unknown place and time.” Cobon-Guzman entered once and was released, unvetted, into the country’s interior. On July 31, an immigration judge ordered her removed.
ICE now wants both women turned over from the Ocean County Jail.
“We are urging the Ocean County Jail to honor ICE’s detainers on these two criminal illegal aliens to take them out of American communities once and for all,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
DHS placed the blame squarely on federal border policy under the previous administration.
“An innocent baby would still be alive today had it not been for Joe Biden’s disastrous open border and reckless immigration policy that released countless illegal aliens into our country,” the spokesperson said.
Sherrill’s Silence
Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who signed legislation codifying New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive, had made no public statement on the case as of Tuesday morning. A spokesman for the governor directed Fox News Digital to Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, who did not respond to a request for comment.
The Trust Directive, originally drafted under former Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, restricts how much New Jersey law enforcement may voluntarily cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
Sherrill’s silence on the crash has drawn criticism online, particularly after she posted about other issues, including President Trump’s handling of the conflict with Iran. Replies to her social media posts included: “How about sticking to doing something about the highest property taxes in the US [or] stopping illegals from killing and maiming us?” and “Any comment yet? Hello?”
State GOP Demands Compliance
New Jersey Republicans issued a statement holding Trenton responsible for the conditions that allowed the crash to happen.
“An innocent baby is dead. A mother and another child were seriously injured. Now, ICE is seeking custody of the two women charged in connection with the crash. This should not be complicated: New Jersey must comply with ICE detainers. Governor Sherrill has a responsibility to put the safety of New Jersey families ahead of sanctuary policies. When federal immigration authorities seek custody of individuals charged with serious crimes, the state should cooperate — not stand in the way.”
