NJ drunk driver, wanted by ICE, gets 20 years for killing Lakewood mom and child in high-speed crash
⚠️ Raul Luna-Perez drove about 60 mph before crossing the center line and causing the fatal crash.
🔴 The Red Bank man, who was living in the U.S. illegally, killed a mother and her 11-year-old daughter.
❗ Luna-Perez must serve 17 years before he can become eligible for parole.
A Red Bank man living in this country illegally was sentenced to two decades in prison for a high-speed DUI crash that killed a mother and child in Lakewood.
On Friday in Toms River before Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan, Raul Luna-Perez received two 10-year terms to be served back-to-back, for two counts of aggravated manslaughter he pleaded guilty to in June.
He was also dealt 18 months for a count of assault by auto, to run at the same time as the longer terms, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.
Luna-Perez must serve 17 years before being eligible for parole.
Investigators found that 43-year-old Luna-Perez, a Mexican national, was drunk and had cocaine in his system at the time of last summer’s crash that killed Maria Pleitez, 42, and her 11-year-old child, Dayanara Cortes.
Read More: Fatal Lakewood crash raises questions about immigration policy
The Lakewood crash killed a mother and her 11-year-old daughter
On July 26, 2025, at 11:20 p.m., Luna-Perez was driving a Dodge Durango with one passenger and was speeding on local roads at about 60 mph when he crossed a double yellow line into oncoming traffic.
He passed four other cars before crashing head-on with a Nissan Sentra, near the intersection of Cross Street and Hearthstone Drive.
Pleitez, a Lakewood resident, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her daughter, a front seat passenger, was rushed to a hospital but died of her injuries.
The daughter's friend in the back seat, also 11, and a passenger in the Dodge also were injured.
Luna-Perez was initially charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and assault by auto.
Blood tests found alcohol and cocaine in Luna-Perez’s system
First responders said that Luna-Perez showed signs of impairment, so a blood sample was taken after the crash.
Preliminary results showed that his blood alcohol content was at least a .19 — just over twice the legal limit of .08.
There were also traces of cocaine in Luna-Perez’s blood. A toxicology report showed that he was under the influence of both drugs and alcohol at the time of the crash.
In the days after the deadly crash, Luna-Perez was briefly transferred to federal custody under an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer.
Once the blood test results were received, charges against Luna-Perez were upgraded to two counts of aggravated manslaughter as well as two counts of strict liability vehicular homicide.
Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and Lakewood police then picked up Luna-Perez from the ICE detention facility in Elizabeth.
He has remained since at the Ocean County Jail.
Read More: NJ immigration bills pass on ICE rules, trust directive
Luna-Perez’s status, prior arrests drew attention to NJ immigration policy
The case quickly drew a spotlight among conservatives critical of New Jersey’s immigrant trust directive.
Luna-Perez had been arrested three times before the deadly crash, ICE said.
Republican Assemblyman Paul Kanitra took to social media to say that Luna-Perez was “protected from deportation for years despite a rap sheet a mile long.”
Luna-Perez’s previous record, however, did not include felonies.
Instead, he faced a disorderly persons offense and two traffic violations, all three handled by a Municipal Court.
“On June 25, 2023, the Red Bank Police Department arrested Raul Luna Perez for simple domestic violence.
On March 20, 2025, the Red Bank Police Department arrested Raul Luna Perez for a DUI.
On April 17, 2025, the Red Bank Police Department arrested Raul Luna Perez for a DUI.”'
ICE did not confirm whether Luna-Perez had been found guilty of the municipal offenses.
Last year, a spokesperson for then Gov. Phil Murphy spoke out on the case, and countered claims that the state was shielding criminals from being brought to justice.
“Over the objection of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the court chose to release Mr. Luna-Perez,” Murphy spokesman Mahen Gunaratna said at the time.
Starting in 2018, law enforcement officials were directed to refrain from aiding federal officials when it came to civil immigration laws.
The Immigrant Trust Directive explicitly does not include law enforcement seeking anyone charged with a violent crime.
The directive was codified as a law, signed in March by Gov. Mikie Sherrill.
Victims’ family remembers the mother and daughter
Pleitez’s niece mourned her aunt as “a hardworking, cat-loving, doting US citizen who immigrated from El Salvador 24 years ago,” The Post previously reported.
Both victims were to be buried in El Salvador, according to an online tribute.
ICE arrests: 'Worst of the worst' in New Jersey
Gallery Credit: New Jersey 101.5
Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom
PHOTOS: Clashes with police outside Delaney Hall after protest zone fails
Gallery Credit: The Associated Press
12 ways New Jersey is making it harder for ICE to operate
Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt
