OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
8:10 AM – Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Hector Balderas-Aheelor, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, is charged with felony hit-and-run causing death or injury.
On November 26th, the day before Thanksgiving, 11-year-old Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz had crossed into the street outside his home in Escondido, California, to retrieve his soccer ball when he was hit by a car.
Police said that Balderas-Aheelor had been driving the car and sped off after hitting the child, who died on Thanksgiving at Rady Children’s Hospital due to his injuries.
María de Paz ran outside at the sound of the crash to find her son lying unconscious.
“People came to help me, but no one saw anything,” she later told San Diego’s NBC 7. “The car just fled. They hit him and didn’t stop.”
Advertisement“We’re not celebrating Thanksgiving like we should be, like a typical family should be right now,” Irene Gonzalez, a neighbor and family friend, also told the NBC affiliate. “It’s hard to give thanks. We do give thanks that Aiden is no longer in pain — seeing him, laying there in the bed suffering — so we do give thanks that he is up above with our heavenly father.
Though it’s unclear how fast Balderas-Aheelor was driving, the posted speed limit in the area was 35 miles per hour.
“Thanksgiving should be a day of celebrating family and giving gratitude, but instead the family of Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz mourned this beautiful child’s death because a criminal illegal alien stole his life,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
“Now, sanctuary laws threaten to put this killer back onto California’s streets,” she added. “Hector Balderas-Aheelor was previously removed four times before he chose to commit a felony and illegally re-enter the country a fifth time. Gavin Newsom, we are calling on you to do the right thing and honor ICE’s arrest detainer.”
“On November 29, 2025, a Department of Homeland Security – Immigration Detainer – Notice of Action (DHS Form I-247-A) was received for Hector Balderas-Aheelor (aka: Hector Amador Balderas),” said Lt. David Collins of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. “In accordance with California Government Code 7282.5, a review of the criminal history was conducted, and the Immigration Detainer was rejected.”
Balderas-Aheelor is being held on a $100,000 bond at Rock Mountain Detention Facility in San Diego. He had previously been deported four times — on March 19, 2004, June 10, 2004, June 15, 2004, and March 4, 2010, according to DHS officials, who provided his mugshot from the most recent removal.
“Unlawfully returning to the United States after deportation is a federal criminal offense and California honors federal criminal warrants,” a representative for California Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) said in a statement. “The federal government admits a failure to apprehend the suspect when he unlawfully entered the US but California law does not prevent them from acting now.”
Balderas-Aheelor has an arraignment hearing scheduled for Wednesday in North Division Court.
The DHS expects that the immigration detainer will not be honored.
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