NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The continuing investigation into the October 5th fatal hit and run crash on Nolensville Pike that claimed the life of 10-year-old Emily Sanchez-Ramirez has led to an arrest.
Metro Police arrested 29-year-old Orlin Argueta-Zuniga on Wednesday night. He is the nephew of 39-year-old Walter Daneris Zuniga who was identified as the driver responsible for the crash. Argueta-Zuniga was arrested for assisting him in crossing the U.S. border.
Sanchez-Ramirez and her mother were hit by a red Nissan Sentra while they rode together on a scooter in the bike lane.
Argueta-Zuniga voluntarily met with Traffic Division fatal crash investigators today and admitted to his involvement in facilitating his uncle’s abscission. He said Zuniga hid the Sentra involved in the crash at the home they shared on Radnor Street.
Zuniga then went to his job and had his final check made out to his nephew, who drove Zuniga to Atlanta, cashed the check and purchased a bus ticket to Texas for him so he could cross the border into Mexico and continue to Honduras.
Argueta-Zuniga was charged with accessory after the fact and false reporting to obstruct or hinder. He is currently jailed on $7,500 bond.
Efforts are continuing to locate Zuniga and have him returned to the U.S.
Sanchez-Ramirez’s mother, 28-year-old Laura Ramirez-Gonzalez, remains hospitalized in stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
This story by Aaron Cantrell reminds me of my first school in Dyersburg, TN. I was a student at Bruce School from Kindergarten to second grade until the school system was integrated. My parents graduated from this K-12 school in 1960 in one of the city's African American communities. After sitting empty for several years, part of the school was demolished while the rest was renovated and now serves as a community center for the Bruce community in Dyersburg. A local pastor is now trying to do something similar in the Cemetery community in Rutherford Co.
-Lelan Statom
