The men could face life in prison or the death penalty. The gruesome crime scene and large number of people who died drew international outrage.

Two Texas men were indicted Wednesday on federal charges for their roles in the deaths of 53 people in what officials have called the deadliest migrant smuggling case in U.S. history.

The migrants — from Mexico and Central America — were found in a sweltering tractor-trailer in Southwest San Antonio last month. Their deaths drew international outrage.

Homero Zamorano Jr. of Pasadena and Christian Martinez of Palestine face charges of transporting undocumented migrants in a way that resulted in serious injury, death and the jeopardizing of lives. If tried and convicted, the men could face life in prison or the death penalty.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas announced the indictments Wednesday.

Zamorano, 45, was the driver of the tractor-trailer. He abandoned it on a semirural road near Interstate 35 and tried to flee, officials previously said.

“A search warrant was executed on a cell phone belonging to Zamorano. Through investigation, it was discovered that communications occurred between Zamorano and Martinez concerning the smuggling event,” said a Wednesday statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Federal officials said that 48 migrants died at the scene — including 22 people from Mexico, seven from Guatemala and two from Honduras. Sixteen other undocumented migrants were taken to hospitals, where five of them died.

The gruesome crime and its sheer scale — 64 migrants huddled in a big rig without water or air conditioning, in heat that reached 100 degrees that day — has staggered even veteran law enforcement officials who work along the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Guatemalan village mourns two teens lost in San Antonio migrant smuggling tragedy

Relatives of the victims and other residents of the village of Tzucubal pooled their resources and traveled to Guatemala’s capital last week to confirm their identities. They now wait for the teens’ bodies to be repatriated so they can be buried.

GUATEMALA CITY — After four hours in the Guatemalan ministry of foreign affairs, Manuel Jesús Tulul walked out, his face contorted with grief. He and his wife, Magdalena Tepaz Tziac, had confirmed with a photograph that their son, Juan Wilmer Tulul Tepaz, was one of seven Guatemalans — and 53 people total — who died last week in a sweltering-hot, unventilated tractor-trailer found in San Antonio. The vehicle was carrying more than 65 men, women and children.

“Yes, yes, he is dead.” Manuel Tulul’s words were barely intelligible after he had viewed photographs of his dead son, confirming that what before was a probability had now become a reality.

His wife clutched her chest and sobbed, unable to speak at all.

The couple had left well before dawn on June 30 from the village of Tzucubal, part of the municipality of Nahualá in the department of Sololá, about 100 miles west of the country’s capital. They were accompanied by Maria Sipac, who also lost a son in the Texas tragedy.

Their mission: to confirm that their children were among the deceased.

But they did not go alone. Twenty neighbors from their village and even residents of nearby municipalities accompanied them as a show of support and solidarity. All pooled their resources to pay for the journey.

“The thing is, we are like family, we are here to help and support,” said Alonzo Tepac, the deputy mayor of Tzucubal.

When news reached Nahualá that Pascual Melvin Guachiac Sipac, age 13, and Juan Wilmer Tulul Tepaz, age 14, had perished inside the truck in San Antonio, the village reeled with shock and anguish.

“Hearing this news was incredibly painful,” the deputy mayor said.

Nahualá has suffered additional losses: Two sisters, Karla and Griselda Carac, from the Colcojá district of Nahualá, drowned while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in a separate incident.


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