Man charged with Sarah Root's death extradited from Honduras nearly 10 years later

A man police said was responsible for a car crash that killed a Council Bluffs woman was extradited from Honduras after evading prosecution for nearly a decade.

Eswin Mejía, 28, was allegedly drag racing in Omaha, Nebraska, when he rear-ended a vehicle driven by 21-year-old Council Bluffs resident Sarah Root in 2016 as she waited for a red light. A blood test found his alcohol content was three times the legal limit.

He was charged with vehicle homicide by DUI in Douglas County, Nebraska. Mejía, who was undocumented, posted a $5,000 bond, but he failed to appear at subsequent court hearings.

He was arrested in early March by the Honduran National Police in the Río Frío village of Santa Bárbara. He arrived back in Omaha on March 21.

Who was Sarah Root?

Root graduated just 16 hours before her death. She attended Bellevue University, south of Omaha, and graduated summa cum laude. Root was born on May 1, 1994, in Council Bluffs.

Since her death, Root's parents have advocated for national legislation that would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants who are charged with a crime that resulted in a death or serious bodily injury to another person.

For years, Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst has championed a proposal called "Sarah's Law" to accomplish that goal.

Ernst's long campaign ended in success in January, when President Donald Trump signed Sarah's Law as part of the larger Laken Riley Act, which mandated federal detention for undocumented migrants charged with a variety of other crimes. Ernst invited Root's father to Trump's joint address to Congress in early March.

“While it is too late for Sarah, the Roots can rest knowing that Sarah’s killer will be held accountable and this administration is taking action to prevent this from happening to someone else’s daughter," Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said in a news release after Mejía's extradition.

Why has Sarah Root's case attracted national attention?

Trump referenced Root's case at the 2016 Republican National Convention, calling her "just one more American life that wasn’t worth protecting" and blaming the "open borders" policies of the Obama administration. Root's parents have testified before Congress about their dismay that Mejía was allowed out of jail on bond.

Des Moines Register reporter William Morris contributed to this report.

Kate Kealey is a general assignment reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her at kkealey@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter at @Kkealey17.