ESCONDIDO — A man who federal officials said was deported from the United States four times before striking an 11-year-old boy with his vehicle in Escondido, then fleeing the scene, pleaded guilty to a felony count of hit-and-run causing death.
Hector Amador Balderas, 44, whose case sparked public debate among federal and state officials due to his immigration status, pleaded guilty Friday to hitting Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz with his vehicle on Nov. 26, 2025, then driving away from the scene.
Court documents indicate he faces between two and three years in state prison when he is sentenced early next month. Amador Balderas remains jailed without bail pending sentencing.
Witnesses said Aiden went into the street to retrieve a soccer ball when he was hit around 5 p.m. near the intersection of East Washington Avenue and Hickory Street. He was taken to Rady Children’s Hospital, where he died Thanksgiving morning, police said.
Prosecutors said Amador Balderas turned himself in a few days later.
At the time of his arrest, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security claimed that California had refused to honor an immigration detainer filed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which asks local law enforcement agencies to notify the agency when someone they believe is deportable is released from custody.
After the Sheriff’s Office rejected ICE’s request for an immigration detainer, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that she was calling on Gavin Newsom to “do the right thing and honor ICE’s arrest detainer.”
Newsom, in turn, called the DHS allegations “a complete lie” and said California honors federal criminal warrants. His office added, “Nothing prohibits the federal government from doing its job in this case.”
