A 24-year-old illegal immigrant was charged Monday in the death of a St. Louis police officer after hitting the officer with his car, according to police. The suspect, Ramon A. Chavez-Rodriguez, was intoxicated when police arrested him and was on probation for beating a woman he lived with.

Chavez-Rodriguez was driving 71 mph—16 mph over the speed limit—when he struck St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Officer David Lee, who was responding to a separate crash, police said. The 18-year police veteran died hours later. A blood test two hours after the accident showed Chavez-Rodriguez’s blood alcohol level was 0.10 percent—exceeding Missouri’s legal limit of 0.08 percent.

"Our community has lost a great police officer," St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Tracy said at a press conference Monday afternoon. "My top priority is ensuring justice is served for my officer who was killed in a line of duty and my end supporting my officers who are grieving and the family that has lost a husband and a father."

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