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Lopez Waives Preliminary Hearing In Death Of Infant
By: Mike Stiles - Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Efrain Jimenez-Lopez (photo courtesy of St. Joseph County Jail)

(CENTREVILLE) – A man who is charged in a crash that claimed the life of an infant waived his preliminary hearing.

St. Joseph County District Court officials say that 24 year old Efrain Jimenez-Lopez is charged with felony counts of failure to stop at the scene of an accident causing death; operating under the influence causing death and driving with a suspended license.

St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department was called to M-60 and Angevine Road just before 7 AM November 1. Deputies determined that 30 year old Samantha Adams and her 6 month old son Alden were heading west on M-60, and had stopped to wait for traffic to clear so they could turn south on Angevine Road.

It’s alleged that Lopez was also heading west and failed to slow down or stop, rear ending the Adams vehicle.

Deputies found Lopez 150 yards from his crashed vehicle, in a corn field with minor injuries. Lopez admitted to first responders that he had been drinking and was trying to evade police by crawling away from the crash scene.

Samantha Adams was treated for minor injuries at Beacon Health Three Rivers. Alden Adams was in critical condition and taken to Beacon Health Three Rivers before being transferred to Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Deputies say with the help of Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Lopez was identified as a Mexican citizen who was in the United States illegally, and did not have a valid driver’s license.

He remains held on a $150,000 bond. No date has been set for his pre-trial conference or his trial in St. Joseph County Circuit Court.

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