A young couple’s plans for the future were shattered in an instant after their vehicle was hit by an allegedly drunk, undocumented driver.
Cameron Lyon, 23, was traveling home with his college sweetheart and fiancée, 22-year-old Abrielle Kerns, after a family reunion on September 6 when another car crossed into their Chevrolet.
Lyon was killed in the devastating Ohio crash, while Kerns suffered serious injuries that required treatment in an intensive care unit.
Investigators said 33-year-old Alvaro Uribe-Gonzalez allegedly drove off the highway before overcorrecting. His vehicle then overturned, entered oncoming traffic and collided with the couple’s car, authorities said.
The fatal collision came at what had been an especially joyful period for the newly engaged pair. Lyon had recently begun work as a teacher, and only weeks earlier, he had proposed to Kerns during a trip to Rhode Island.
Lyon was driving when Uribe-Gonzalez’s GMC Terrain crashed into their vehicle.
Emergency crews treated him at the scene before taking him to a nearby hospital, where he later died.
“There had been reports of a reckless op, and the state highway patrol was out looking for this guy. But they didn’t catch him in time. And he slammed into my son’s car,” Lyon’s mother, Andrea Lyon, said tearfully in an interview with the Daily Mail.
Cameron Lyon, 23, and his college sweetheart, Abrielle Kerns, 22, became engaged earlier this summer before the tragic Ohio car crash.
Middle school teacher Lyon was driving with his fiancée on September 6 when their vehicle was hit by an alleged drunk driver.
Alvaro Uribe-Gonzalez, 33, was named as the suspected driver in the fatal crash. The Department of Homeland Security said he was in the US illegally
‘He was an amazing person. He was funny. He could bring you out of a bad mood very quickly. He was very witty. He loved his family. He’d just gotten engaged in June to his college sweetheart.’
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) later confirmed that the suspect is in the country illegally and had previously been deported by the Trump administration.
Local authorities apprehended Uribe-Gonzalez, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer for him.
He has been charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, driving under the influence of alcohol and operating a motor vehicle without a valid license.
‘Cameron had his whole life ahead of him, and that life was stolen by this criminal who never should have been in our country in the first place,’ DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a press release.
‘ICE has lodged a detainer asking officials in Ohio to cooperate with us and not release him from jail, so that we can remove him from this country. Deporting illegal aliens is our duty because it saves lives.’
‘Nothing is gonna bring our son back. I wanna see justice for my son and for Abrielle,’ Andrea said. ‘I don’t know what that looks like. I hope whatever it is, it’s the maximum sentence.
Cameron’s mother, Andrea, described him as ‘an amazing person,’ adding: ‘He was funny. He could bring you out of a bad mood very quickly. He was very witty. He loved his family’
Lyon and Kerns were college sweethearts. She was in the passenger seat during the crash and was severely injured
‘But this person is not going to consume me. I’m focused on my son, remembering him, the wonderful person he was, and taking care of Abrielle.’
She added that Kerns was moved from the Intensive Care Unit to a rehab facility earlier this week.
Andrea said Kerns has a ‘long road ahead’ and has endured unimaginable mental trauma after the loss of her fiancé.
Kerns’s family has started a fundraiser for her medical bills and to support her after the tragedy.
‘Cameron was already a beloved part of the family, and everyone who knew Abrielle and Cameron could see the love they shared and the future they were building together,’ the fundraiser wrote.
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‘Her world has been turned upside down, and the physical and emotional hardships ahead will be enormous.’
Kerns shared photos of the proposal in July, writing in a Facebook post: ‘On vacation, I said “yes” to the love of my life, Cameron Lyon. I still can’t believe I get to marry my best friend—the one who makes me laugh, supports my dreams, and makes every day brighter.
‘This trip became one we’ll cherish forever, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life making memories with you. Here’s to forever with my favorite person.’
Kerns shared the couple’s engagement photos on Facebook in July. ‘This trip became one we’ll cherish forever, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life making memories with you. Here’s to forever with my favorite person,’ she wrote in the caption
A fundraiser for Abrielle said, ‘Everyone who knew Abrielle and Cameron could see the love they shared and the future they were building together’
The young couple was traveling home from a family reunion when the tragedy struck. Kerns is in a rehab facility while she recovers from her injuries
The Crestline Exempted Village School District, where Lyon taught fifth and sixth grade, said their ‘hearts are broken’ after his death.
Andrea said Lyon loved teaching, constantly lesson planning and asking others for advice on how to make learning fun for his students.
She added that many parents have reached out to share how much their children loved being in his classroom during his short tenure at the school.
Alvaro Uribe-Gonzalez allegedly re-entered the country illegally after he was deported in 2020
‘Cameron touched so many lives,’ his mother said.
Andrea has called for stiffer drunk driving laws and hopes that others will be motivated not to get in a vehicle after consuming alcohol.
‘Everybody needs to know drunk driving is a problem. And the punishment does not fit the crime when you take a life,’ she said.
DHS said Uribe-Gonzalez illegally entered the US through Texas in January 2020 and was arrested by Border Patrol.
He was issued a final order of removal on January 11 and was deported on April 14, 2020, but re-entered the US at an unknown time, according to DHS.
The tragedy has sparked outrage on the right, with Ohio Republican Representative Jim Jordan writing on X: ‘An illegal alien was driving in Ohio and crashed into Cameron Lyon.
‘Now, a 23-year-old teacher is dead because of a criminal who never should have been in the country.’
Ohio Republican Senator Bernie Moreno also posted about the fatal crash, writing on X: ‘My constituents are being killed because DC Dems chose feckless open border policies over Americans. Deport every single illegal alien. Now.’
Lyon’s mom said that Kerns has a ‘long road ahead,’ but she was moved out of the ICU earlier this week. She now has to face a life without her fiancée
Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno has claimed that his constituents are ‘being killed because DC Dems chose feckless open border policies over Americans’
Moreno wrote a scathing letter to Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont on September 1 after Ohio resident Austin Karr Grimes, 29, was killed in a car crash believed to have been caused by an undocumented man named Washington G Naula-Ochoa.
Naula-Ochoa has pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide after he was accused of causing the fatal crash. Local authorities said he was in the country illegally but obtained a license due to Connecticut’s ‘drive-only’ initiatives.
Connecticut is one of many states that permits undocumented migrants to obtain a driver’s license.
‘Horrifyingly, Connecticut not only permits illegal aliens to receive a driver’s license, but it encourages it, all while Americans pay the ultimate price,’ Moreno wrote. ‘Quite simply, your policies are killing my constituents.’