Immigrant killed in hit-and-run accident

A Mexican citizen was hit and killed by a pickup Monday night while he was crossing Highway 95 with five other illegal aliens.

The group had apparently just crossed into the United States near Gadsden when the accident happened, Arizona Department of Public Safety and U.S. Border Patrol officials said.

The hit-and-run accident took place at approximately 9 p.m. near County 19th Street and Highway 95 when Adelfo Gonzalez, an 18-year-old man from Puebla, Mexico, was struck by what officials believe was a gray pickup.

Gonzalez had fallen behind the rest of his group, which included four cousins and the suspected smuggler. It appears that Gonzalez was already living in Yuma at the time of the accident and may have returned to Mexico to get his cousins, officials of the Mexican Consulate in Yuma said.

Any family or friends living in the area are asked to call the consulate at 343-0066.

The driver of the truck sped off in an unknown direction, and it is believed the cousins pulled Gonzalez off the roadway before continuing on their trip without him, said DPS Sgt. George Anderson.

"A doctor from Mexico stopped to render assistance," Anderson said. "But (the victim) died at the scene."

Border Patrol agents were called in and managed to find the rest of the group, including the suspected smuggler, who was expected to be charged with felony alien smuggling, said Joe Brigman, spokesman for the Yuma sector of the patrol.

Anderson said witnesses are being sought and asked anyone with information to call DPS at 782-1679.