In the early hours of Friday, May 6, Gerardo Avila and five other migrants scaled the 18-foot U.S. border wall next to a Mexican highway, about a quarter mile west of the Otay Mesa port of entry in San Diego.
Avila had been deported to Mexico a few weeks earlier after three decades in the United States, and was trying to get back to his family for Mother’s Day, relatives said. As he was climbing, bright lights from a border patrol vehicle flashed in the direction of the wall, illuminating the foggy night sky. Agents heard a scream and saw Avila fall about 15 feet, according to a Border Patrol statement, which identified him only as a “male citizen of Mexico.”
Avila, 47, was declared dead at the scene. The others were rushed to hospital.
