Why is This Happening?
Part One of A Multi-Part Series
Editorial by Gary Thelen, RPSC Member
On July 20, 2025, two young lives were cut short when 18-year-old Hallie Helgeson and 19-year-old Brady Heiling were struck and killed by a wrong-way driver on I-90 near Madison, Wisconsin. Read the full article here.
The driver, an illegal alien named Noelia Saray Martinex-Avila, had a blood alcohol concentration of .208 – more than twice the legal limit. She now faces multiple charges, including homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, homicide by use of a vehicle, operating while intoxicated, knowingly driving with a revoked license causing death and injury, failing to install a court-ordered ignition interlock device, and violating prior court orders. She had a previous OWI in 2020.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has filed a detainer for Martinez-Avila, 30, due to her being in the U.S. illegally. Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett refused to turn her over to ICE agents, fearing she would be deported and would not be prosecuted for the deaths of these two children. A statement from Barrett at the time said deporting a criminal defendant before they face trial “allows them to evade accountability” and amounts to a “‘get out of jail free card. Initially, Martinez-Avila’s attorney posted her $250,000 bail. Thankfully, Sheriff Barrett notified ICE just before her release, and she was immediately taken back into custody, where she remains in Dane County Jail under a $5 million bail.
So, with our Governor Tony Evers, our State Attorney General Josh Kaul, and all these liberal politicians and RINOs telling us no one is above the law, how is that Noelia Saray Martinez-Avila – a repeat drunk driver here illegally – was allowed to remain free long enough to take the lives of two INNOCENT children?
Please support the families affected by this tragedy, share their stories, and keep them in your prayers. Contact your lawmakers to express your concern and disgust. They need to end this insanity. Demand accountability. Tragedies like this are not inevitable – they are preventable. Speaking out is essential; staying silent only perpetuates the issue and ensures more families will face the same heartbreak.
