An undocumented migrant convicted in the hit-and-run death of an Arkansas teenager in 2016 is still eligible for parole despite serving only a small portion of his 17-year prison sentence, the victim’s mother says.
Kathy Hall said she has spent years trying to keep Sergio Rodriguez in custody after discovering he became eligible for parole about 18 months after his sentence began. Her family, she said, must now appear at parole hearings every two years to argue against his release.
Rodriguez was sentenced in 2018 to 17 years behind bars after pleading guilty to manslaughter, battery and leaving the scene of the 2016 crash. He is currently being held at the Washington County Jail.
Hall, whose 18-year-old daughter Hailey King died in the collision, told Fox News Digital that she made a promise at her daughter’s bedside to “never stop fighting for justice.”
King was riding a scooter with her friend, Osmin “David” Gutierrez, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on November 7, 2016, when Rodriguez, driving a pickup truck, hit them from behind.
Authorities said Rodriguez was driving 36mph over the speed limit when he crashed into the pair.
The force of the impact hurled King onto the hood of the truck before she was thrown headfirst onto the road.
She sustained devastating injuries, including a brain stem hemorrhage, internal and external bleeding in the skull, a ruptured spleen and a lacerated liver.
Hailey King, 18, was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in November 2016
Sergio Rodriguez pleaded guilty to manslaughter, battery and leaving the scene of a crash in connection with Hailey King’s death
She died a short time later, leaving behind her two-year-old daughter, Brooklyn.
Hall recalled police arriving at her home that night and telling her she needed to come to the hospital immediately.
When she arrived, she found her daughter sitting upright with her eyes open but unresponsive.
‘I knew right when I looked at her that she was gone,’ Hall told Fox News Digital.
Hall said she sat beside her daughter, told her how much she loved her and promised she would continue fighting for justice before King died.
Gutierrez was also critically injured in the collision. Hall said he became trapped beneath the truck as Rodriguez continued driving for more than a mile before finally stopping.
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According to Hall, Gutierrez’s legs were severed in the crash, but he remained conscious.
He died two years later from a blood clot related to the injuries he suffered.
Gutierrez lost both legs in the crash and died two years later from a blood clot related to his injuries
Hall also criticized how Rodriguez’s case was handled after the crash.
She said Rodriguez disappeared for three days before he was arrested and was released on bond less than an hour after being taken into custody.
Hall said her family felt Rodriguez was protected throughout the criminal proceedings while they struggled to navigate the legal process after losing their daughter.
She also claimed authorities decided not to notify US Immigration and Customs Enforcement because deporting Rodriguez could have prevented him from facing prosecution in Arkansas.
Hall said the decision left her family wrestling with an impossible choice between seeking criminal accountability and seeing Rodriguez immediately removed from the country.
She said the repeated parole hearings have prevented the family from fully moving forward.
‘As soon as the pain dulls a little bit, you have to go back through the whole thing preparing to try to keep him behind bars again,’ Hall said.
King left behind her two-year-old daughter, Brooklyn, after the fatal hit-and-run
Hall said King had done nothing wrong the night she was killed and that her granddaughter has grown up without knowing her mother.
She said she intends to continue opposing Rodriguez’s release for as long as necessary.
‘I’ll never stop fighting. I’m going to do everything I can to keep my promise to her,’ Hall said.
The Daily Mail has contacted the Fayetteville Police Department and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
