Suspect in Memorial Day DWI pleads guilty

Raleigh, N.C. — The man accused of causing a collision that killed three people on Interstate 440 during the Memorial Day weekend in 2008 pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of second-degree murder and two counts of felony serious injury by vehicle.

Francisco Javier Martinez, 30, of 1925 Village Squire Circle in Knightdale, was traveling west in an eastbound lane on the inner loop of Interstate 440 when the van he was driving collided with a Lexus near the on-ramp from Capital Boulevard, police said.

Guillermo Zintzun Jimenez, 26, Dagoberto Zintzun Jimenez, 21, and Santiago Pascual Tellez, 14, died at the scene. Family members of the victims said they were returning from a party at the time of the wreck.

After his arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed Martinez under an immigration detainer under suspicion he was in the country illegally.

Martinez has been sentenced to between 13 and 16 years in prison. After he completes that sentence, he will face deportation.