An illegal immigrant accused of accidentally killing a Spanish Fork man in a car wreck missed a court appearance, and the victim's wife believes he may have gone back to his native Mexico.

A no-bail warrant was issued for 21-year-old Gabriel Hernandez after he missed his arraignment at Spanish Fork's 4th District Court on Thursday. Hernandez is charged with negligent homicide in the death of 83-year-old Albert Burns, as well as driving on a denied license and driving with no insurance. Jail officials say they called immigration authorities when Hernandez was booked into jail, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents declined to investigate the inmate's immigration status. ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley in Orange County, Calif. says the jail didn't call.

Hernandez is charged with accidentally killing Burns in late January when his car slid in the snow and slush on 100 South in Spanish Fork. According to police, Hernandez was driving about 25 miles per hour when he lost control of his car and slid into Burns, who was checking his mail.

Doris Burns, the victim's wife, said she doubted that Hernandez would show up for his arraignment, and is pessimistic about the possibility of getting him back to court to face his charges. She said Spanish Fork police told her that Hernandez was in the country illegally under an assumed name.

"I think he skipped just as quickly as he could," Doris Burns said.

Spanish Fork police Lt. Steve Adams said Hernandez's supervisor at a local contracting company told police before the arraignment that he was under the impression that Hernandez would be in court. Adams said Hernandez had been living in Orem, though he had no knowledge of whether Hernandez was still in the United States.

"We still have his car. It's been seized as evidence, so he wouldn't have had a car to drive away," Adams said.

Christine Johnson, an assistant city attorney in Spanish Fork who is the prosecutor in the case, said Hernandez made bail after being arrested in early February. His bail was $2,300, $230 of which he paid in order to get released.

Judges will often take ties to the community and immigration status into consideration at bail hearings, but there was no bail hearing for Hernandez because he was released before seeing a judge, Johnson said. Police and court officials do not usually check inmates' immigration status, she said, and Hernandez's status was not checked when he was arrested.

"I've heard rumors but I certainly have not been able to confirm whether he was illegal or not," Johnson said. "That's a federal issue and I'm not really in a position to prosecute that one way or the other, so it's not been our policy to check into that."

Doris Burns is among the ranks of people who are urging authorities in Utah to take a tougher stance on illegal immigration. A neighbor of the Burns's, Melinda Joyce Turner, spoke to a state Senate committee in February in support of a proposed omnibus immigration reform bill that included a provision requiring sheriff's departments to investigate and record the immigration status of inmates. The bill has passed the House and Senate.

Doris Burns said Turner spoke to her beforehand about what she would say to the Senate committee, and Burns agreed with every word.

"I am certainly hoping that our group up there in Salt Lake will get on the ball and do something about this illegal immigration," Doris Burns said.

• Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it