The family members of a woman who was raped and murdered in 2022 are preparing to sue the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or DHHS), alleging the government departments acted with “operational negligence” by allowing her murder suspect, an illegal immigrant with known gang ties, to enter the United States through the southern border.
Kayla Hamilton, an autistic woman who had turned 20 years old just three days prior, was raped and murdered on July 27, 2022, in Aberdeen, Maryland.
Investigators with the Aberdeen Police Department believe the individual responsible for this deadly attack was an illegal immigrant with ties to the El Salvadoran gang MS-13, who was previously detained at the southern border.
The identity of the murder suspect has not been publicly revealed because he is 17 years old, and Maryland laws guard against publicly identifying minors suspected of committing crimes.
Pasadena, California-based attorney Brian Claypool announced on Wednesday that his firm is preparing to represent Ms. Hamilton’s mother, Tammy Nobles, in a wrongful death lawsuit against DHS and HHS.
The lawsuit will seek $100 million in compensation over the actions of DHS and HHS officials that allegedly contributed to Ms. Hamilton’s death at the hands of the illegal immigrant suspect.
Mr. Claypool said DHS employees failed to take several precautions when they first encountered the murder suspect at the U.S. southern border, including checking him for gang-related tattoos or contacting the government of El Salvador to confirm whether he had gang affiliations.
“DHS employees negligently, recklessly and/or egregiously failed to visually inspect the assailant by lifting his shirt to check for gang related tattoos. Had DHS employees performed a rudimentary visual inspection of assailant’s body, they would have seen MS-13 gang related tattoos on his body, disqualifying him from entering U.S. soil,” Mr. Claypool’s statement reads.
“DHS employees negligently, recklessly and/or egregiously failed to make a simple phone call to the El Salvador government to verify if assailant was on an MS-13 gang affiliation list. Had they done so, El Salvador government officials would have confirmed that the assailant was a known MS-13 gang member with a prior criminal history.”
Mr. Claypool further explained the complaint against HHS officials in a social media post, claiming officials within that department were responsible for placing the murder suspect with a sponsor before permitting him to enter the United States.
“DHHS improperly placed the killer with a non verified sponsor who was not a family member. [The killer] runs away a month later then is permitted to rent a room with Kayla by a landlord who was also an illegal immigrant,” Mr. Claypool’s social media post reads.
NTD News reached out to DHS for comment about the allegations.
“Our hearts go out to Ms. Hamilton’s family,” a DHS spokesperson replied in an emailed statement. “We do not comment on pending litigation. The men and women of DHS take their responsibility to secure our homeland very seriously.”
NTD News also reached out to HHS for comment on the lawsuit but did not receive a response by press time.
Testifying Before House Homeland Security Committee
The announcement of the wrongful death lawsuit comes the day before Ms. Nobles is set to testify before the House Homeland Security Committee.
“DHHS employees neglected and recklessly failed to verify a legitimate family member of the assailant or sponsor before allowing him to enter U.S. soil. There were clear inconsistencies in the DHS and DHHS records regarding the identity of the relative to whom the assailant was released,” Ms. Nobles wrote in a prepared statement for the Thursday House hearing.
Ms. Nobles has previously testified before the House committee about the circumstances of her daughter’s death. The Thursday hearing comes as part of ongoing deliberations over whether or not DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas should be impeached.
“For me this not a political issue this a safety issue for everyone living in the United States. This could have been anyone’s daughter. I don’t want any other parent to live the nightmare that I am living,” Ms. Nobles’ latest prepared statement adds.
“I am her voice now and I am going to fight with everything I have to get her story told and bring awareness of the issue at the border.”
