Mexican illegal alien Raul Luna-Perez faces two counts of Vehicular Homicide and Assault by Auto after allegedly driving drunk and killing a mother and her 11-year-old daughter in Lakewood back on July 26, 2025.
Here’s the release from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office:
On July 26, 2025, at approximately 11:20 p.m., Officers from the Lakewood Township Police Department responded to the intersection of Cross Street and Hearthstone Drive for a report of a motor vehicle crash with serious injuries. A subsequent investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad, Lakewood Township Police and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, revealed that a Dodge Durango – being operated by Luna-Perez and containing two passengers – was traveling eastbound on Cross Street when it crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic and collided head on with a Nissan Sentra. The female driver of the Nissan Sentra was pronounced deceased at the scene. An 11 year-old female front seat passenger was transported to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood where she succumbed to her injuries. Another 11 year-old female passenger, who was seated in the rear of the vehicle, was likewise transported to Monmouth Medical Center and is listed in serious but stable condition. The two passengers of the Dodge Durango were transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center (JSUMC) in Neptune for treatment of minor injuries and released.
First Responders at the scene detected that Luna-Perez showed signs of impairment. In furtherance of the investigation, Luna-Perez was transported to JSUMC where a draw of his blood was obtained pursuant to a court-authorized warrant. The results of the blood draw remain pending. Luna-Perez was transported to the Ocean County Jail where he is presently lodged pending a detention hearing.
Unsurprisingly, the release declined to disclose the defendant’s immigration status; the Garden State has been a “sanctuary” jurisdiction since 2018 under Governor Phil Murphy. In recent days, the Murphy Administration’s hatchet man has gone as far as warning the state police against enforcing immigration warrants.
Luna-Perez’s immigration status was later confirmed by the NY Post.
Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill is the Democrat nominee to succeed Phil Murphy as governor this November. She’s expressed support for continuing to bar state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
