U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have arrested a Honduran national convicted in a 2022 deadly wrong-way crash that killed a Nashville musician following his recent release from state prison in West Tennessee, the agency announced Wednesday.
ICE said 37-year-old Kelvin Mejia-Romero was taken into custody April 20 after completing his prison sentence at the Northwest Correctional Complex near Memphis. He is expected to remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
As detailed by the agency and documented by Davidson County court records, Mejia-Romero (pictured above) was convicted in November 2022 of vehicular homicide by reckless conduct in connection with a fatal crash that occurred early New Year’s Day 2022 on Interstate 24 in Nashville.
Mejia-Romero was driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-24 around 2:45 a.m. when his vehicle collided head-on with a pickup truck driven by 66-year-old musician Samuel Dismuke Sr., who died at the scene.
Law enforcement reported that Mejia-Romero admitted to drinking eight or nine beers before driving and displayed signs of impairment following the crash.
Davidson County Criminal Court records show Mejia-Romero pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide by reckless conduct in November 2022 and received a six-year, one-month prison sentence for the fatal crash.
ICE noted that the Honduran national’s criminal record included prior DUI convictions before the 2022 New Year’s Day deadly crash in Nashville. The agency also said Mejia-Romero most recently entered the U.S. in 2014 with approved travel authorization, but later remained in the country unlawfully after multiple of his U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services applications filed in 2017 and 2018 were denied.
In a statement released by ICE, acting Enforcement and Removal Operations New Orleans Field Office Director Brian Acuna said the agency “will hold those who victimize our community accountable by enforcing our nation’s immigration laws.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
