On October 12, 2022, Timmy Karter, a travel blogger, was doing a YouTube expose on Mexico’s Villas Otoch Paraiso neighborhood in Cancun. He intended to show off the community that was said to be the most dangerous and violent in the area, but what he accidentally found was far more intriguing.
After being dropped off at the market in Villas Otoch, he walked down the rows of street vendors looking for something to eat and someone to give him a haircut when he came across a man named Alex. The Mexican man, born in the country, was selling food.
Before conversing with Alex, Karter stopped to ask if the meat on display was chicken. The street vendor was exceptionally forthcoming and revealed he knew how to speak English well because he’d lived in the US in Raleigh, North Carolina, for 28 years before being deported back to Mexico.
Alex had studied, worked, lived in an apartment with his wife, and welcomed two daughters in the US. However, at age 24, his life drastically changed when his oldest daughter became sick at a babysitter and didn’t want to eat.
The three-year-old girl managed to eat ham and eggs at home and started choking and vomiting ten minutes later. Seeing that the nearest North Carolina hospital was five minutes from where they were, Alex reacted quickly by driving her there, hoping to get her prompt assistance.
At the time, his wife was out at work, and without thinking about it, he rushed to save his older child. Sadly, the little girl passed away on the way to the hospital, and Alex found out about her death 30 minutes after arriving and was blamed for it.
Alex Got Accused in His Daughter’s Tragic Death
Within nine days of the tragedy, Alex was arrested and told his baby girl died because of him instead of being allowed to mourn in peace. He was given three charges, two of which were for not calling an ambulance and leaving his six-month-old daughter behind alone at home.
The Mexican man was sentenced to serve 15 years from 2004 until 2019. The father of two explained that he rushed his daughter to the hospital because he just wanted to try and save her life and didn’t call the ambulance because he didn’t want to waste time since the hospital was so close.
After his daughter died of choking, Alex told his wife they had to divorce because his imprisonment would take long. Although he’d cut his wife loose because she was still young at 24 to be waiting on him to return, he didn’t expect what happened next.
Surprise Visit for Alex in Prison from a 16-Year-Old Girl
While serving his sentence, Alex disappeared from the lives of his young family by not writing to them. He didn’t want to know about them or his sister as he was struggling with depression, but ten years later, something incredible happened.
His ex-wife had found him and wrote explaining how she’d remarried and had another child. Alex also received a photo of his other daughter, Stephany, after seeing her for the last time when she was months old and rededicated himself to her.
A week before he was supposed to be released, his ex-wife told him he would get a surprise. The father of two initially thought she was going to send him money, but the day after he heard the news, he received a visitor.
He didn’t know who was visiting him; then he saw a girl walking over who looked 15 or 16. Stephany started crying when she saw him, and when he asked her why she was in tears, she explained that he was her father!
Stephany’s father [Alex] admitted not to feeling Mexican anymore, having grown up and lived most of his life in the US, including paying his taxes there.
Despite him being in prison for causing her older sister’s death, Stephany wanted to see Alex and looked for him, and found him. Father and daughter both cried, and even Karter admitted that he was about to cry hearing how things played out!
The man who once said, “I had to do something for my daughter!” when explaining why he’d rushed Stephany’s sister to the hospital was able to reunite with his other baby girl. Sadly, the reunion wasn’t meant to be forever because, soon enough, Alex would leave the US and Stephany behind.
What Happened after Alex Was Released from Prison?
In 2019, after serving his time, Alex was released from prison and deported to his native country of Mexico. The street vendor revealed he had no chance with a judge because his lawyer openly told him that being Mexican would work against him.
Although he was born in Mexico, Alex didn’t feel like he belonged in the country and felt the US was more his home. However, he couldn’t return after being deported as he said he’d get arrested and serve more time.
Stephany’s father admitted not to feeling Mexican anymore, having grown up and lived most of his life in the US, including paying his taxes there. Alex said he had suicidal thoughts when he was told about the imprisonment and deportation, but he, fortunately, didn’t act on them.
Despite living in a neighborhood with cartels and dangerous happenings, mainly at night, Alex focused on staying out of trouble. He now worked as a food street vendor in the Cancun market and hoped that things would work out and he could have a happy life again.
Alex’s story so touched Karter that he gave him some money, which Stephany’s father initially tried to decline, as a way to show him support. The blogger was so severely affected by the street vendor’s story that he couldn’t document Villas Otoch Paraiso the way he wanted but still walked around, showing how friendly and giving the residents were.
