5 people charged after boat carrying migrants overturns near San Diego, killing teen and 2 others

Five people were charged after a boat carrying migrants overturned Monday near San Diego, killing a 14-year-old boy from India and at least two others, authorities said.

Five people were charged after a boat carrying migrants overturned Monday near San Diego, killing a 14-year-old boy from India and at least two others, authorities said.

The group, all Mexican nationals, was charged in two federal complaints, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said in a news release on Tuesday.

They have been identified as Jesus Ivan Rodriguez-Leyva, 36; Julio Cesar Zuniga-Luna, 30; Melissa Jennelle Cota, 33; Gustavo Lara, 32; and Sergio Rojas-Fregoso, 31.

Zuniga-Luna and Rodriguez-Leyva were arrested Monday on charges of bringing in aliens resulting in death and bringing in aliens for financial gain, the attorney's office said. They were found at a beach in Del Mar where witnesses observed the overturned panga-style boat.

Cota, Lara and Rojas-Fregosa — who officials said had previously been deported in December 2023 — were charged with transportation of illegal aliens.