Illegal immigrant is guilty in fatal crash...

Illegal immigrant is guilty in fatal crash


Eddie Carbajal-Lile ran Town of Lima stop sign, killed boy, 17, then fled on foot


By Eric Litke
The Sheboygan Press (WI), March 25, 2008

A Mexican citizen in the United States illegally was convicted Monday of killing a Port Washington boy in a hit-and-run crash in the Town of Lima last summer.

Eddie Carbajal-Lile, 27, accepted a plea deal that could put him behind bars for more than 20 years, though the prosecution will recommend 10 years in prison under the terms of the agreement.

According to a criminal complaint, Carbajal-Lile ran a stop sign at county Highway V and state Highway 32 and struck a car with three teenagers inside Aug. 14, injuring two and killing Paul B. Watry, 17. Carbajal-Lile fled the scene on foot and was captured two weeks later in Ohio, authorities said.

'We could get more or even less from the judge, but I think the 10 years is fairly consistent with (fatal hit-and-run crashes) we've had in the past,' said Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco. 'It's not intentional, it's negligent.'

A friend testified that Carbajal-Lile had been drinking at a nearby bar before the crash, but he was not charged with drunken driving since no blood could be drawn to prove intoxication.

Carbajal-Lile was charged with felony counts of homicide by negligent operation of a motor vehicle, hit and run resulting in death and reckless driving causing great bodily harm, as well as misdemeanor reckless driving causing injury. Under the plea agreement, he pleaded no contest to the felonies and the misdemeanor was dismissed.

Following the pleas, Carbajal-Lile was found guilty on the three felony counts by Judge Timothy Van Akkeren. The charges carry potential penalties of up to 21.5 years in prison.

Carbajal-Lile, whose last known address was his brother's home in Fredonia, has been held since his arrest on a $100,000 cash bond. He appeared in court Monday in a red jail jumpsuit with his hands shackled in front of him and spoke through a translator, entering the no contest pleas and answering questions from the judge with one-word responses.

Carbajal-Lile will appear before Van Akkeren for sentencing May 19. The delay allows time for officials to conduct a pre-sentence investigation into Carbajal-Lile's past.

'We know little about the defendant — he has several different aliases,' DeCecco said.

According to the complaint and witness testimony:

Carbajal-Lile, who was alone in his car, struck the right side of the other car, knocking both teens on that side of the car unconscious. Watry was in the front seat, and Jillian Fitzmaurice, 18, of Oostburg, was seated behind him.

The driver of the teens' car, Scot Mueller, 18, of Port Washington, suffered a broken left clavicle, left wrist and left hand, and Fitzmaurice suffered a broken jaw and ribs as well as numerous cuts to her face and a loss of hearing in one ear.

Watry died soon after the crash at a Milwaukee-area hospital.

Carbajal-Lile was captured Aug. 29 in Ohio after he and a friend were arrested for harassing a bartender in Mt. Orab, east of Cincinnati, officials said.



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