Efrain Lopez-Contreras, convicted of fatally striking 14-year-old Giana Bartolucci in a drunk driving incident, has been released from prison and deported to Mexico.
Lopez-Contreras, who was in the U.S. illegally at the time of the accident, completed his sentence on November 2, six years after the tragic event on Christmas Eve Day in 2015. Giana and her father, Tony Bartolucci, a local pastor, were searching for a Christmas tree when their car was hit by Lopez-Contreras, leading to Giana sustaining severe brain injuries that eventually led to her death in June 2016.
In 2017, Lopez-Contreras was found guilty on multiple charges, including felony assault, manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide, and aggravated driving while intoxicated.
Upon his release, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) took him into custody and deported him on November 22.
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