Agency: 3 killed in Arizona crash were Mexican nationals

PHOENIX (AP) — Three men killed in an April 21 head-on collision reportedly involving human smuggling activity have been identified by Arizona authorities as Mexican nationals.

The SUV passengers killed were Alexis Miguel Fuentes De La Cruz, 22; Omar Ortiz-Ramirez, 36, and Raúl Carranza-Alonso, 39, the state Department of Public Safety said Friday.

A DPS spokesman said the agency did not have hometowns for the victims, and the Mexican consulate in Phoenix did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Associated Press.

Federal Homeland Security Investigations said after the crash that it involved “attempted human smuggling activity.”

An 18-year-old Phoenix man identified by the DPS as the SUV’s driver was subsequently arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and other charges in connection with the crash.

It occurred on Interstate 10 in Pinal County between Phoenix and Tucson when the SUV crossed the median and collided with a tractor-trailer rig after a state trooper tried to stop the SUV for erratic driving, the DPS said previously.

Two people in the truck and other passengers among the nine people in the van were injured in the crash.