U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Lloyd Tinashe Hwehwe, a 36-year-old criminal alien from Zimbabwe, in Houston on August 19, after he was previously convicted of intoxication manslaughter in Dallas County, Texas.
ICE Houston posted on August 23, “ICE @EROHouston arrested Lloyd Hwehwe, a 36-year-old criminal alien from Zimbabwe, who was convicted of intoxicated manslaughter in Dallas County after he decided to get behind the wheel intoxicated and selfishly killed an innocent bystander.”
According to ICE’s “Most Wanted” website, Hwehwe was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the 2014 crash and is considered one of the agency’s “Worst of the Worst” fugitives.
Hwehwe’s manslaughter conviction stems from a Sunday morning crash in Oak Cliff, Dallas, in January 2014, when he reportedly collided with a stalled truck on Interstate 35E near Illinois Avenue. Richard Vielma, 44, was pinned under the overturned vehicle and later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Hwehwe had a blood alcohol content of 0.219, nearly three times the legal driving limit. He reportedly admitted to consuming eight beers the night before and failed a field sobriety test, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
Hwehwe had previously faced charges for driving while intoxicated and a variety of other traffic offences before the manslaughter arrest, county and local court records indicate.
Hwehwe was held in the Dallas County Jail on $100,000 bail. Local media outlets reported that Hwehwe fell asleep during the transport to jail.
Hwehwe’s family sought financial support following his arrest, according to reports in Zimbabwean news outlet Zim Eye. The family solicited contributions to cover bail, asking the community to “come together and help financially towards his bail” and requesting prayers for both the Hwehwe family and the family of the deceased.
The victim, Richard Vielma, according to his obituary, was born on April 12, 1969, in Odessa, Texas, and died on January 26, 2014, in Dallas. Services were held at Restland Abbey Chapel.
ICE has not provided a public timeline for Hwehwe’s removal, but as a convicted criminal alien, deportation proceedings are expected to follow the Houston arrest.