NJ drunk driver, wanted by ICE, admits killing Lakewood mom and girl in high-speed crash

⚠️ Red Bank man admits guilt in a Lakewood crash that killed a mom and daughter.

➡️ Police said Raul Luna-Perez was speeding and drunk, with cocaine in his system when he crossed into oncoming traffic.

🔴 The state will seek two consecutive 10-year prison terms for aggravated manslaughter.

A Red Bank man living in this country illegally has admitted to causing a deadly crash last summer that killed a mother and her daughter in Lakewood.

On Monday, Raul Luna-Perez pleaded guilty in Toms River before Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan to two counts of aggravated manslaughter and one count of assault by auto.

Investigators found that 43-year-old Luna-Perez, a Mexican national, was drunk and had cocaine in his system at the time of a head-on, high-speed crash that killed Maria Pleitez, 42, and her 11-year-old child, Dayanara Cortes.

Read More: Fatal Lakewood crash raises questions about immigration policy 

Ocean County (Canva, Townsquare Media Illustration)

How the double deadly, head-on Lakewood crash unfolded

On July 26, 2025, at 11:20 p.m., Luna-Perez was driving a Dodge Durango with one passenger and was speeding about 60 mph when he crossed a double yellow line into oncoming traffic.

He passed four other cars before crashing head-on with a Nissan Sentra, near the intersection of Cross Street and Hearthstone Drive.

Pleitez was pronounced dead at the scene. Her daughter, who had been in the front seat, was hospitalized, where she was pronounced dead.

The daughter's friend in the back seat, also 11, and the Dodge passenger also were injured.

Luna-Perez was first charged the next day with two counts of vehicular homicide and assault by auto.

First responders said that Luna-Perez showed signs of impairment, so a blood sample was taken and tested. Preliminary results showed that his blood alcohol content was at least a .19 shortly after the crash — just over twice the legal limit of .08.

ALSO SEE: Suspect arrested: Was ICE chasing wrong man on Route 72? New questions after violent confrontation

NJ drunk driver, Raul Luna-Perez, wanted by ICE admits to deadly crash in Lakewood (OC Jail, ICE)

Charges were upgraded after toxicology and autopsy findings

There were also traces of cocaine in his blood. A toxicology report showed that Luna-Perez was under the influence of both drugs and alcohol at the time of the crash.

As an Ocean County judge was releasing Luna-Perez to strict home detention in the double fatal crash case, he was transferred to federal custody under an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer.

About a week after the crash, charges against Luna-Perez were upgraded to two counts of aggravated manslaughter as well as two counts of strict liability vehicular homicide.

That same day, detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and Lakewood police went picked up Luna-Perez from the ICE detention facility in Elizabeth. He has been held at the Ocean County Jail since then.

Case became part of ongoing New Jersey immigration policy debate

The case quickly became another focal point for conservatives critical of New Jersey’s immigrant trust directive.

Luna-Perez had been arrested three times before the deadly crash, ICE said.

Republican Assemblyman Paul Kanitra took to social media to say that Luna-Perez was “protected from deportation for years despite a rap sheet a mile long.”

His record, however, comprised low-level offenses, not felonies: He faced a disorderly persons offense and two traffic violations, all three handled by a Municipal Court.

According to ICE:

“On June 25, 2023, the Red Bank Police Department arrested Raul Luna Perez for simple domestic violence.

On March 20, 2025, the Red Bank Police Department arrested Raul Luna Perez for a DUI.

On April 17, 2025, the Red Bank Police Department arrested Raul Luna Perez for a DUI.”

Last year, a spokesperson for then-Gov. Phil Murphy countered claims that the state is shielding criminals from being caught and brought to justice.

“Over the objection of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the court chose to release Mr. Luna-Perez,” Murphy spokesman Mahen Gunaratna said at the time. “And we reiterate that the Immigrant Trust Directive allows for cooperation with ICE in regard to anyone charged with a violent crime or convicted of any indictable offense."

Starting in 2018, law enforcement officials were directed to refrain from aiding federal officials when it came to civil immigration laws as opposed to helping to catch people wanted in criminal cases.

The directive was turned into a law signed by Gov. Mikie Sherrill in March.

Read More: NJ immigration bills pass on ICE rules, trust directive

Dayanara Cortes and her mom Maria Pleitez were killed in a July 2025 crash, for which a driver has pleaded guilty (Credit: ICE via GoFundMe)

Victims remembered as sentencing approaches

Pleitez’s niece mourned her aunt as “a hardworking, cat-loving, doting US citizen who immigrated from El Salvador 24 years ago,” The Post previously reported.

Both victims were to be buried in El Salvador, according to an online tribute.

At Luna-Perez’s sentencing on Aug. 28, the state will seek two 10-year terms, one for each of the aggravated manslaughter charges, to run back-to-back, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

He would have to serve 85-percent of those terms before being eligible for parole.

The state will also seek 18 months for the assault by auto offense, to run at the same time.

In listing Luna-Perez's previous three arrests in municipal court, ICE did not confirm whether he was found guilty of any of them.

Under state law, simple domestic violence is still considered a disorderly persons offense.

Advocates for domestic violence victims have repeatedly pointed out that such low stakes enforcement does not effectively prevent future violent or reckless behavior.

Read More: Understanding domestic violence support resources in New Jersey

New Jersey is also one of just two states where a standard DUI is not even a misdemeanor offense, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

(In Wisconsin, a first offense DUI results in a fine and suspended license.)

Here, it is not even a disorderly persons offense, but instead a traffic offense and does not result in a criminal record.

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