Authorities are still working to locate the suspect involved in the deadly crash.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An ongoing investigation into a deadly hit-and-run crash on Nolensville Pike led to charges for the suspect’s nephew, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD).
Twenty-nine-year-old Orlin Argueta-Zuniga was arrested on Wednesday night for assisting 39-year-old Walter Daneris Zuniga across the U.S. border. Zuniga is a native of Honduras and was identified as the driver responsible for a deadly crash on Nolensville Pike.
Argueta-Zuniga voluntarily met with fatal crash investigators on Wednesday and admitted his involvement in facilitating his uncle’s crossing. Argueta-Zuniga reportedly added that his uncle hid the Sentra involved in the deadly crash at their shared residence on Radnor Street.
Zuniga allegedly made out his final check to his nephew, who drove Zuniga to Atlanta, cashed the check and bought a bus ticket to Texas for him so that he could cross the border into Mexico and get to Honduras.
The MNPD previously said that Zuniga was responsible for driving a red Nissan Sentra and striking 10-year-old Emily Sanchez-Ramirez and her 28-year-old mother, Laura Ramirez-Gonzalez. Sanchez-Ramirez and her mother were reportedly riding an electric scooter headed north toward Paragon Mills Road.
Sanchez-Ramirez was transported to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt where she was determined to have critical injuries, and mother was transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) with non-life-threatening injuries.
The MNPD added that efforts are ongoing to find Zuniga and have him returned to the United States. Argueta-Zuniga has been charged with accessory after the fact and false reporting to obstruct or hinder an investigation.
Argueta-Zuniga is in jail on a $7,500 bond. As of publication, Ramirez-Gonzalez remains in stable condition at VUMC.