An illegal immigrant from Mexico has been arrested for killing a Vietnam War Veteran during a drunk driving accident just one day before Veterans Day, according to reports from police.
31-year-old Nemias Perez Severiano stands accused of killing Samuel Jackson, a disabled 69-year-old veteran who fought as a Marine in the Vietnam War, just one day before Veterans Day in Norristown, Pennslyvania, CBS Philadelphia reports.
The District Attorney’s Office of Montgomery County has confirmed the incident.
According to police, Severiano was driving highly intoxicated on the night of November 10th when he hit and killed Jackson before fleeing. Prior to the crash, the illegal immigrant had reportedly been drinking for nearly five hours at a pub not far from the accident.
“While at the bar [Severiano] indicated he consumed seven to eight Modelo beers,” the arrest records stated. “[Severiano] informed the detectives that when he left the bar, he was ‘a little drunk.’”
“I’m a forgiving person, but it’s really taken a lot for me right now to forgive somebody because if they had called 911, we might have been able to save him,” Peggy said.
“My heart is broken, but I know my brother’s in a better place. I know he didn’t suffer. I can’t imagine what his last words were, but at the end of the day, it’s about him and giving him a good burial. I can’t wait until Saturday. I can’t even sleep because I know what is coming,” Jackson’s sister, Peggy Jackson said.
He “loved the Marines” and was “so proud to have served his country,” Peggy added.
“It was basically his day, it’s what he fought for,” Jackson’s grandson, Jayden Guidici told ABC 6 News of his grandfather’s love of Veterans Day.
“Why can’t you stop, see if he was okay, see if he was alive, see if he was breathing,” Guidici added.
Severiano is currently being held on a $200,00 bond in Montgomery County Jail. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has sent a request to the county jail that should Severiano be released that he be given to the agency for immediate arrest and deportation.