Driver arrested for OVI in double fatal crash that killed baby, woman

BATAVIA, Ohio (WXIX) - There is a major new development in the double fatal,head-on crash earlier this week that killed a baby and woman in Clermont County.

Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers say they determined Juan Jimenez, 26, of West Chester is at fault in the deadly crash.

A trooper smelled the odor of alcohol on Jimenez at the scene and then he admitted to a trooper that he drank “a large alcoholic beverage earlier in the day while eating at a restaurant,” according to a criminal complaint.

He also did not have a driver’s license.

Jimenez is under arrest on two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and one count of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

His blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash is not listed in court records, but they do show a blood test was taken to determine it.

He is held in lieu of $750,000 cash bond at the Clermont County Jail, jail records show.

Jimenez made his first court appearance in the case on Tuesday and is due back in court for a plea or trial setting next week, on Thursday, June 30 at 1 p.m.

The crash was reported shortly before 4:44 p.m. Sunday on OH-222 south of Elklick Road in Batavia Township, according to the patrol.

Jimenez was driving south on OH-222 in a 2007 Honda Civic when he “failed to negotiate a turn,” state troopers wrote in a news release the day of the crash.

The Honda went left of center and struck a 2020 Ford Fusion.

Two of Jimenez’s passengers were pronounced dead at the scene, state troopers say.

They identified his passengers as Maria Rodriguez of Batavia and an infant.

Jimenez was transported to Anderson Mercy Hospital, treated and released. He was charged Monday and booked into the jail shortly after, jail records show.

Troopers said an additional passenger in the Honda was transported to the University of Cincinnati Hospital with serious injuries.

The driver of the Fusion was transported to Anderson Mercy Hospital with minor injuries.

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