- Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán died after fleeing ICE agents at a Florida gas station on July 14.
- The Mexican national held a valid tourist visa and had already purchased a return flight home.
- DHS reportedly paused most ICE traffic stops nationwide following three fatal encounters in a single week.
Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán, a 28-year-old father of two from San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato, died after fleeing an encounter with ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents in St. Augustine on July 14. His family and an immigrant advocacy group said he held a valid tourist visa and had already bought a flight home.
The crash happened around 6:40 a.m. Tuesday at a Wawa near State Road 16 and Green Acres Road in St. Johns County, Florida. Four people fled a vehicle after agents approached it in the gas station parking lot, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
Coronilla Durán ran across State Road 16 and entered the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer. The truck, identified as an Eggland's Best vehicle, struck him.
The 64-year-old driver from Lake City, Florida, stopped immediately and tried to provide aid. Coronilla Durán was pronounced dead at the scene.
His wife, Yésica Alamilla López, traveled from Mexico to Florida after learning of his death. She said he had spent three weeks in the United States, including only two days in Florida, and planned to return to Mexico on Saturday.
“He had a tourist visa and had been here in the United States for a short time—only three weeks. He had been in Florida for just two days.”
Alamilla López provided the account as state and federal officials withheld the man's identity. The Department of Homeland Security initially confirmed only the death of a Mexican national.
Colectivo Árbol, represented by spokesman Isaret Jeffers, later confirmed that Coronilla Durán entered the country on a tourist visa. Jeffers said he had traveled to the United States to work, but remained a visitor with a planned departure.
“He was going to return this past Saturday. He had already bought a flight. Now, unfortunately, if he is returning, his return is different,” Jeffers said.
The Florida Highway Patrol and DHS are investigating the death. The patrol is handling the traffic-fatality inquiry, while DHS’s Office of Professional Responsibility is reviewing the agents’ conduct during the initial encounter.
Agents approached a vehicle, then four people ran
Master Sergeant Dylan Bryan, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson, said agents from HSI and ICE encountered the vehicle at the gas station. Four occupants left the vehicle on foot.
“Preliminary information revealed that an encounter between HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] and ICE agents occurred in the parking lot of a local gas station/convenience store,” Bryan said in an emailed statement.
One person crossed the highway and “entered the path of the tractor-trailer,” he said. The preliminary account does not describe what prompted the agents to approach the vehicle.
Jose Rivera, a local garbage truck driver who witnessed the crash, said Coronilla Durán appeared to slip and fall on grass in the median shortly before the truck hit him. Investigators are reviewing the circumstances surrounding the encounter and collision.
Markwayne Mullin, the DHS secretary, said the department was investigating the incident under standard practice. A DHS spokesperson said federal law enforcement had been conducting an operation in St. Johns County and was “investigating an incident resulting in the death of a Mexican national.”
The agency and state officials did not release Coronilla Durán’s name or visa status before his family and the nonprofit identified him.
A vigil followed the crash as demands for an inquiry grew
More than a hundred people gathered at the crash site on July 15 for a vigil honoring Coronilla Durán and the truck driver. The Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance also held a rally in downtown Jacksonville.
The group called for an end to the 287(g) agreement, which allows local law enforcement cooperation with ICE, and demanded a full independent investigation. More than 50 interfaith, civil rights and business leaders joined the National Hispanic Media Coalition in calling for a congressional investigation into recent deaths involving DHS agencies.
State Rep. Angie Nixon, a Democrat from Jacksonville, linked the St. Johns County death to other recent immigration enforcement incidents.
“Whether it’s ICE agents gunning down a father in the streets of Houston, shooting a young man in Maine or conducting operations right here in Northeast Florida that result in a deadly crash, the outcome is the same: fear, chaos and death.”
The death came during an intensified federal immigration enforcement campaign under President Donald Trump. It marked the third deadly encounter involving ICE agents in one week, after two fatal shootings.
| Date | Person | Location and circumstances |
|---|---|---|
| July 7, 2026 | Lorenzo Salgado Araujo | Houston, Texas, where ICE shot and killed him |
| July 13, 2026 | Joan Sebastian Guerrero | Biddeford, Maine, where ICE fatally shot the 26-year-old Colombian, who had a valid work permit |
| July 14, 2026 | Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán | St. Augustine, Florida, where a tractor-trailer struck him after he fled on foot |
The Florida death was at least the 10th fatality associated with immigration officer encounters since the start of the mass deportation campaign. It was also the third deadly ICE encounter reported during that week.
DHS reportedly paused most ICE traffic stops nationwide
Following the three deaths, DHS reportedly announced a nationwide pause on most traffic stops conducted by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. The policy shift was aimed at reducing high-risk encounters.
The St. Augustine investigation continues alongside that broader change. FHP is examining the roadway death, including the tractor-trailer’s movement and the events at the gas station. DHS’s internal review is examining the federal agents’ actions before the four people fled.
Coronilla Durán’s family continues to identify him as a visitor who expected to return to Mexico by air. His planned Saturday flight became part of the account of a death that began in a gas station parking lot and ended on State Road 16.
