Overview
- Hector Amador Balderas, 44, who pleaded guilty Friday to felony hit-and-run causing death, now awaits sentencing in San Diego County court.
- Prosecutors say he faces two to three years in state prison and he remains in jail without bail until the sentencing hearing early next month.
- Witnesses reported that Aiden Antonio Torres De Paz ran into the street to get a soccer ball near East Washington Avenue and Hickory Street around 5 p.m., and he died the next morning at Rady Children’s Hospital.
- After Balderas was arrested, Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed an immigration detainer on Nov. 29, 2025, which the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office rejected under California Government Code 7282.5, a state law that limits cooperation on civil immigration holds.
- Federal officials said Balderas had been deported four times and a DHS official urged Governor Gavin Newsom to honor the detainer, while Newsom’s office called that claim a complete lie and local coverage emphasized the plea and sentence over the immigration fight.