19-year-old in leaf-pile deaths avoids deportation

PORTLAND — An immigration judge has dismissed the case against a 19-year-old Oregon woman who faced possible deportation to Mexico after she drove an SUV into a leaf pile, accidentally killing two young girls playing in it.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday that Cinthya Garcia-Cisneros was released from a Tacoma immigration detention center Aug. 14. She was in removal proceedings and had been held at the facility since February.

An ICE spokesman declined to say why the case was dropped, citing privacy issues.

Earlier this year, Garcia-Cisneros was sentenced to three years’ probation and 250 hours of community service. A jury found her guilty of two counts of felony hit-and-run.

Prosecutors say the Oct. 20 crash in Forest Grove, 25 miles west of Portland, was an accident. But they say the young woman failed to come forward after learning she might have struck the children in the leaf pile, which was on the street. Police found her the following day.

Authorities said the two girls — later identified as stepsisters, Anna Dieter-Eckerdt, 6, and Abigail Robinson, 11 — likely were concealed by the leaves and not visible to Garcia-Cisneros.

Minutes after Garcia-Cisneros drove through the leaves on her way home, her brother returned to the scene and saw a man standing over the pile, screaming. The man spoke to him briefly. The boy went home and told his sister she might have hit two children.

Defense attorney Ethan Levi previously said Garcia-Cisneros was in a state of shock and denial after learning of the children and fixated on the possibility she wasn’t the driver who struck them. At her sentencing hearing, she told the girls’ parents, Tom Robinson and Susan Dieter-Robinson, that she deeply regretted not going back. The parents offered her their forgiveness.

Garcia-Cisneros was brought to the U.S. from Mexico as a 4-year-old. She has temporary permission to be in the country legally under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, meaning she has a work permit, a driver’s license and a Social Security number.

Immigration attorney Courtney Carter, who represented the teen, was not immediately available for a comment. Neither was Garcia-Cisneros.

“Today is like any other day without our girls,” said Susan Dieter-Robinson, Anna and Abigail’s mother. “Through our grief we have chosen to love and celebrate the joy that they have brought into our lives and the lives of so many others.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.