Undocumented immigrant commits suicide over fears he'd be deported

His family says he was so petrified of being deported that a minor traffic accident sent him to suicide.

We may never know for certain.

Now they are mourning his loss and getting out the message of what they say living in fear can do to a person.

His friends called him 'Trippy', his name was Luis Castenada, a 40-year-old father of two originally from Guatemala. The story is he came, one of eight kids, as an undocumented immigrant to this country as a young boy.

His story ended this past Friday night in the San Fernando Valley when he took his own life. His mother says it was because of one thing, the fear of being deported to a country he never really knew.

The story she tells is that Luis, after being in an accident on Friday night, was afraid that if police came they would discover his status and deport him.

Apparently that prospect had long terrorized him. Of course we'll never know for sure. But what we do know is this- police (at least the LAPD) typically does not check one's immigration status, in fact the LAPD is quite adamant about that, but his mother said it's possible Luis was just overwhelmed and panicked.

It's also possible he had other issues we just don't know about. I can tell you the pastor of a North Hills church with a large Latino congregation, who helped Luis's mother get her story out, says the fear created by the Trump administration in the immigrant community is very real and tangible , and felt by many. Rational or not. Justified or not. It's there.