SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- A woman suspected of the hit-and-run killing of a Utah toddler has so far avoided extradition from Mexico to face prosecution, officials said.
The Mexican government refuses to extradite Gloria Campos-Campos, 31, who has been charged in a Salt Lake City state court with one count of leaving the scene of a fatal accident and one count of obstruction of justice in the killing of 1-year-old Vicsayra Garcia in Taylorsville on July 23, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Tuesday.
"She took my daughter's life. I can't bring that back, but at least I can get some closure," said the baby's father, Oscar Garcia of Taylorsville.
The U.S. Marshals Service went through the process of getting a Mexican extradition warrant, but the Mexican government decided not to hand Campos-Campos over to U.S. authorities, U.S. Marshal Jim Thompson said.
"It surprises us because it was a death and it is a serious offense here," Thompson said. "They just don't recognize it as an extraditable offense."
The charges against Campos-Campos are felonies, each with a maximum sentence of five years in prison, the Tribune noted.
The Utah attorney general additionally has charged Campos-Campos with public assistance fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
All international extradition treaties indicate the offense must be a crime in both countries for extradition to occur. The charges against the suspect in this case may not constitute crimes -- or not serious crimes -- in Mexico, said Edwin Smith, a professor of international law and political science at the University of Southern California.
