A US grand jury indicted four people, including a suspected driver, on Wednesday in connection with the deaths of 53 migrants in a scorching heat last month during an attempted smuggling. TexasFederal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Dozens of migrants were packed behind a tractor-trailer found on the outskirts of St. Anthony On June 27, officials said.
The four who were charged were previously charged by prosecutors. More serious grand jury indictments in San Antonio take the accused one step closer to trial.
The alleged driver, Homero Zamorano Jr., 46, of Pasadena, Texas, and his co-defendant, 28, Palestine, Texas, could face the death penalty or life in prison, according to a statement. US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
The two US defendants were indicted on a series of charges for conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants that resulted in death and serious bodily injury.
Prosecutors separately announced that a grand jury has returned indictments against two Mexican nationals suspected of possessing a firearm illegally present in the United States. Prosecutors said Juan Claudio D’Luna-Mendez, 23, and Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao, 48, could each face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Reuters could not reach any defense lawyer for a statement on behalf of the accused.
A truck carrying migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador was abandoned in a desolate, industrial area near a highway about 160 miles (250 km) north of the US-Mexico border.
The temperature in that area had risen to 103 Fahrenheit (39.4 Celsius) that day.
About half of the victims killed were Mexicans and others were from the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, Mexico’s government said.