Top facts:
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A Special Olympian died and his mother is paralyzed from the neck down.
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He and his elderly parents were on their way to church early Sunday morning.
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Felix-Avendano is not a citizen, a report confirms. A source says he is in the country illegally, a fact the other media are ignoring.
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There is no immigration hold on him. The Sheriff’s Department won’t tell ICE about inmates’ immigration status. That means he could walk out of the jail if he can post bail.
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He was smoking crystal meth and was drunk, the complaint says.
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His speedometer was stuck at 110 mph when he rammed into the victims’ car, the complaint says.
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He has never had a U.S. driver’s license.
Juan Felix-Avendano, the non-citizen accused of killing a Special Olympian in a horrific drunk-driving crash in Milwaukee County, had smoked crystal meth and was so intoxicated that he didn’t even remember leaving his house, according to a criminal complaint.
Felix-Avendano’s Volkswagen had severe front-end damage and the “speedometer was stuck at 110 mph. An open bottle of beer was on the driver’s floorboard and a can of Modelo beer was in the back seat,” the complaint says. The crash injured Jan and George Schimming, 76 and 78 years old, of Menomonee Falls, and killed their special needs son, Craig Schimming, 52. They were on their way to church.
We also obtained the arrest detention report from the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department. It says Felix-Avendano is from Juajuaca, Mexico, and it confirms that he is not a U.S. citizen. Read it here: 23000071 – FELIX-AVENDANO – JUAN – – Custody Packet_Redacted. Law enforcement sources tell us Felix-Avendano is an illegal immigrant, which the rest of the media are refusing to report.
However, because of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department’s policies on ICE and illegal immigrants, there is no immigration hold on Felix-Avendano, the Sheriff’s Department told us. That means if Felix-Avedano is able to post bail, he would walk out the door of the jail. “The agency has no involvement with this individual,” ICE told Wisconsin Right Now.
It’s the second drunk driving crash that killed a Wisconsin citizen involving an illegal immigrant in less than a month, authorities say.
According to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department, “an extensive search was conducted, and we have no records responsive to your request regarding any immigration hold on Juan Felix-Avendano.”
In 2019, the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission approved a new policy to require a federal warrant signed by a judge for police in Milwaukee to “assist in immigration enforcement” in all but the most serious of cases. At that time, the policy was applauded by then-Mayor Tom Barrett and pro-immigration activists, CBS 58 reported.
In 2019, then Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas announced that the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department would no longer provide information on inmates’ immigration status to ICE. Lucas called it “the right thing to do.”
Bail for Felix-Avendano was set at $250,000, court records show.
“Court ordered defendant TURNED OVER TO Justice Point for SUPERVISION Level 5. Court ordered Defendant to maintain ABSOLUTE SOBRIETY and it is to be monitored by drug tests, portable breathalyzers, and a SCRAM bracelet. No driving without a valid license,” court records say when Commissioner Grace Flynn set his bail on January 5, 2023. He required an interpreter at the meeting and qualified for a state taxpayer funded public defender. The criminal complaint says he has never had a valid license in the United States.”
The criminal complaint charges Juan Felix-Avendano, of North Swan Road in Milwaukee, with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle for the crash at 9811 West Good Hope Road on Sunday, January 1, 2023. He is also charged with injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle.
According to the criminal complaint, when officers arrived, they saw a red Volkswagen and Toyota Rav4 at the scene. Felix-Avendano was driving the Volkswagen. The victim and his elderly parents were in the other vehicle.
Both the victim and his mother sustained serious injuries and were in critical condition at the hospital. Officers at the hospital reported that Juan Felix-Avendano “appeared to be intoxicated.”
The posted speed limit was 40 miles per hour.
The suspect, while traveling at a high rate of speed, hit the rear of the Toyota, according to the complaint.
Schimming’s mother was on life support and it was believed she was paralyzed from the neck down. Her husband had a brain bleed.
His blood alcohol content was .147, the complaint says.
According to the complaint:
Mr. Schimming said that he lives in Menomonee Falls with his wife and their disabled son, and they were on their way to church. He was driving the speed limit. He remembers being spun and losing consciousness.
Felix-Avendano told police he was at work until 8:30 p.m. and drank a glass of beer and had one shot at work. On his way home, he drank a Michelanda and a Modelo.
He arrived home and was talking to his wife in Mexico from 12:30 to 1 a.m.
After he hung up, he smoked crystal meth, and then entered the house, where he drank four Modelo beers. He tried to call his wife, but she did not answer.
He was upset and went to a New Year’s gathering and continued drinking, the complaint says.
He drank a Modelo and Corona but does not remember what else he drank. He does not recall leaving the house in his vehicle but he recalls the impact from the accident and that his vehicle was smoking, it says.
“He does not recall where he was driving when the accident occurred since he was drunk,” the complaint says.
He admitted being responsible for the crash and said he has never had a license, the complaint says.
Read the criminal complaint here: Criminal Complaint_2 – Felix-Avendano, Juan C; 2023CF000038; Felix-Avendano, Juan C_19459484_1
A family pastor told WTMJ-TV that the Schimmings were on their way to Eastbrook Church at 7:30 a.m. Craig was a member of the Special Olympics with special needs, who was known as a gentle giant, the pastor said. WTMJ-TV reported that Craig Schimming was a church greeter who volunteered in the church’s preschool with his mom.
Wisconsin Right Now has obtained an interview Eastbrook church did with Jan Schimming; the article describes how she volunteered for a non-profit medical center providing care to people without insurance. She said in the story that she had a nursing background, and she and her husband had been missionaries in Africa.
In mid-December, in another horrific OWI-related crash, Ernest Regalado Rodriguez was charged in the drunk driving crash that killed 20-year-old nurse Johanna Pascoe in Caledonia, Wisconsin. Wisconsin Right Now reported that he has an immigration hold in the Racine County Jail and is not a citizen.
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