Couple face murder charge after illegal immigrant they smuggled in back of a truck dies and seven are hospitalised with heat exhaustion as temperature hit 356F



Nathan Lamb and girlfriend Elizabeth Kay to be charged with felony murder

Also charged with human smuggling, aggravated assault and endangerment

Dead man among eight heat exhaustion victims found in truck near Tucson



A couple are to be charged with the murder of a man who was among eight illegal immigrants discovered locked in the back of a truck suffering from heat exhaustion.



Nathan Lamb, 25, and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Kay, 25, had allegedly picked up the immigrants in Douglas and were taking them to Phoenix in the back of a U-Haul truck.

The immigrants were discovered on Sunday in the back of the truck parked at an Interstate 10 gas station at Picacho Peak northwest of Tucson.



Murder charges: Nathan Lamb, 25, is to be charged with the killing of an illegal immigrant who was found dead in the back of a U-Haul truck



The sheriff's office is to request a felony murder charge be filed against Lamb, who was said to be driving and Kay, who was said to be the passenger.

The Phoenix couple were already being held on multiple counts of charges of human smuggling, aggravated assault and endangerment.

Sheriff's spokesman Tim Gaffney said the office was notified early Wednesday that the victim, a man from Mexico, had died at a hospital. The victim's identity is being withheld pending notification of his family.



Gaffney said he didn't know whether Lamb and Kay have attorneys but said the court likely will appoint defense lawyers for them.



The dead man was among eight illegal immigrants discovered in the back of the rented U-Haul van at an Interstate 10 gas station northwest of Tucson

Exhaustion: Three of the immigrants are pictured slumped next to the U-Haul van after being discovered by local law enforcement

Grim: The immigrants suffered from heat exhaustion locked in the back of the van as the temperature rose to 356F

Information provided by the Border Patrol and those in the truck indicated they had entered the county illegally, Gaffney said.

The people in the truck said they were traveling to Phoenix after being picked up in Douglas by a man who was driving the U-Haul truck and a woman who was the front-seat passenger, the sheriff's office said.



During the ride, many in the group of eight became severely dehydrated and overheated in triple-digit temperatures inside the truck, according to authorities.



Someone called 911 after seeing people stagger out of the vehicle when it stopped.



Destination: The immigrants were being taken in a U-Haul trailer from Douglas to Phoenix, Arizona (pictured)

Lamb and Kay told detectives that they heard the people in the back of the truck pounding and banging from inside the cargo area but were afraid to stop right away, the Sheriff's Office said.



When they did stop and then saw the condition of the people in the truck, Lamb and Kay fled, the Sheriff's Office said.



Sheriff Paul Babeu said previously that the temperature in the back of the truck may have exceeded 180 degrees.

