ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The wife of the man killed after running from an ICE encounter is on her way to St. Augustine from Mexico.
Juan Jairo Coronilla, 28, was hit by a semi-truck on State Road 16 on Tuesday.
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His wife landed in Florida on Friday afternoon.
Action News Jax, working with our Telemundo partners, is the only local station to get his wife Jessica’s reaction when she landed in Orlando.
A crew with our Telemundo partners met her at the airport, where Jessica told them her husband was in the United States legally on a tourist visa.
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She said he had only been in the country for about three weeks and had spent just three days in Florida.
She said she still has many unanswered questions about what happened after her husband’s encounter with ICE agents in St. Johns County. Our Telemundo partners translated Jessica’s remarks to English:
“I am his wife and I still don’t know anything; until I have an answer, I will try to stay in touch with you, but for the moment, I hope you understand that I cannot speak. He had a tourist visa; he hadn’t been here long -- three weeks in total and just three days here in Florida. Honestly, I don’t know the details yet; I don’t want to talk right now. A very hardworking person. For the moment, I would like some privacy, and once I have some news, I will let you know.”
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Jessica said her husband was one of four people involved in the encounter with ICE agents. She said the other three ran away as well.
We have reached out repeatedly to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security for more details about what led up to his death, but we’re still waiting for answers.
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