COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — Scott Root lost his daughter Sarah in 2016 when she was killed in a car crash. He was a guest of Sen. Joni Ernst during President Trump's address to Congress Tuesday night.
- The driver who hit Root, Eswin Mejia, was in the country illegally and law enforcement said he was drunk. Sarah Root has just graduated from college with 4.0 grade point average.
- Eswin Mejia was recently captured in Honduras after fleeing the United States in 2016.
- Scott Root joined Sen. Joni Ernst on a Zoom call to discuss the recent passage of Sarah's Law, named for his daughter.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I’m southwest Iowa Neighborhood Reporter Katrina Markel in Council Bluffs.
I spoke with Scott Root — a Council Bluffs man who is a guest of Senator Joni Ernst at the president’s address to Congress Tuesday night.
Root’s daughter, Sarah, was killed in a car crash by an alleged drunk driver in 2016.
The case gained national attention because the driver, who was here illegally, fled the country. Just this week, he was arrested in Honduras.
I asked Root how it feels now that the man accused of killing his daughter — Eswin Mejia — is in custody.
"I've had nine years to sit here and think about it, you know. Did I know that the killer would ever be caught? No. He's caught right now. Do I know that if this happens for somebody else that something's going to be different? Yeah, I know that. Does it suck? Hell yeah," said Root. "That's the ultimate negative in a parent's life, you know. So if I go in the ground tomorrow, at least I know something's getting done as a positive."
Iowa and Nebraska Senators introduced Sarah’s law in 2016, requiring Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take undocumented immigrants into custody if they are accused of a crime resulting in a death. It was passed with bipartisan support and signed into law as part of the Laken Riley Act in January.
