An illegal immigrant trucker has been charged with three counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter after a Kansas City crash that killed a mother and her two young sons on their way to catch a flight home.
Eldar Skander, 39, faces the charges in connection with Monday’s crash, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office. The victims were identified by a GoFundMe page as 35-year-old Olga Sorbalo and her sons, 4-year-old Samir and 8-year-old Luis.
Sorbalo’s husband, Liviu Sorbalo, and the couple’s youngest child survived. Prosecutors said six other people were taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
Olga’s brother, Daniel Cosovan, told KGW8 the family was headed to the airport to fly home to Vancouver, Washington.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Skander is a Ukrainian national who entered the country illegally and was released under the Biden administration.
“Reckless open-border policies have resulted in countless preventable tragedies. Three more innocent American lives were lost. Two children who will never get to grow up, and a mother who will never get to watch them grow,” ICE said. “These deaths were tragic and preventable. No other family should have to endure this loss. This is our WHY.”
Prosecutors said traffic had slowed to a stop when the Volvo semi-truck Skander was driving continued at a “high rate of speed” before slamming into a black Honda Odyssey, setting off a chain-reaction crash. Investigators found no evidence Skander applied the truck’s emergency brakes before impact.
A tablet with YouTube open was found on the semi-truck’s floorboard, according to prosecutors.
Jail records show Skander is held on a $150,000 bond and has an ICE detainer. His criminal complaint lists an address in Chicago, Illinois.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Skander’s non-domiciled commercial driver’s license was issued by Illinois in March 2025. Duffy said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has opened an investigation into the company that hired Skander and into how Illinois issued him the license.
“This heartbreaking loss has left their entire family, relatives, friends, and church community in deep sorrow,” the family’s fundraiser states.
