Chinese exchange student convicted in deadly crash deported

SEATTLE -- A 21-year-old Chinese man convicted of vehicular homicide and reckless endangerment for a 2012 crash that killed a 25-year-old woman in Des Moines was deported back to China.

Yichun Xu was placed on a commercial flight back to China Thursday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents said. Xu pleaded guilty in February and was sentenced to 17-and-a-half months in state prison for vehicular homicide and reckless endangerment.

Xu failed to stop at a stop sign and slammed his Mercedes-Benz into a BMW at freeway speeds, killing Brenda Gomez-Zapata in November 2012. Three of Gomez-Zapata's family members were also injured.

Xu did not have an international driver's license and was driving at speeds upwards of 70 MPH on a residential street at the time of the crash. He also reportedly tried to pay police $542 instead of being booked into jail.

He attended South Puget Sound Community College as an exchange student.

On Nov. 6, an immigration judge ordered Xu removed from jail and deported. He is banned from re-entering the U.S. for 10 years.

It was not immediately known if Xu served the full extent of his sentence counting time served before sentencing, or if he was released early.