Officials in a county in Maryland that released two illegal immigrants who allegedly went on to murder a 14-year-old girl were on the defensive amid scathing criticism.
The latest life-and-death situation involving illegal immigrants took place in Prince George’s County.
Josue Rafael Fuentes-Ponce and Joel Ernesto Escobar, both nationals of El Salvador and believed to both be members of the notorious MS-13 gang, were arrested on May 11, 2018, for attempted first-degree murder, participation in gang activity, and other related charges.
However, the men were released by Prince George’s County Detention Center despite a detainer lodged by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The men were arrested again on May 16 and charged with first-degree murder.
ICE said that the release directly led to the recent murder of the girl.
“As law enforcement officers, we must continue to serve and protect the American public and act in the interest of public safety first,” said Baltimore Field Office Director Diane Witte in a statement.
“These individuals had demonstrated violent criminal behavior before, and because they were released in spite of the lawful detainer, they were afforded an opportunity to take a life.”
#New Prince George’s county jail director firing back at @ICEgov saying the prior release of two teens now charged with murder despite an immigration detainer is legal and proper based on guidance from the Maryland Attorney General. I’ll have the full story on @ABC7News pic.twitter.com/h7hHGGSYLg
— Brad Bell (@ABC7Brad) May 22, 2019
Prince George’s officials responded to mounting criticism in a press conference on Wednesday, claiming that “a detainer is not a warrant.”
“It’s actually a request for localities to hold inmates until ICE decides whether they want to come for them or not. And following that guidance, Prince George’s County does not notify ICE in cases like [this one],” Mary Lou McDonaugh said.
“It’s basically a violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution to hold someone without due process and a warrant,” she added, according to WJLA.
The Prince George’s County Department of Corrections said in a statement obtained by WTOP that the illegal immigrants were transferred to Cheltenham Youth Detention Center, a state facility, four days after their 2018 arrests.
“Neither of these individuals were released to the public from the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections. They remained detained in the juvenile facility until the disposition of their cases earlier this year,” a spokesman said in the statement.
“The Department of Corrections follows policy to inform the U.S. Immigrations [sic] and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency whenever individuals with detainers are released from its custody. Because the aforementioned individuals were no longer in the Department of Corrections custody, no notification was provided to ICE.”
However, the same spokesman told WTOP in another statement that the department never obeys detainers, following guidance from Maryland’s Attorney General Brian Frosh.
Frosh said in a memo that “compliance with ICE detainers is voluntary” and advised agencies, “State and local law enforcement officials are potentially exposed to liability if they hold someone beyond his or her State-law release date without a judicial warrant or probable cause that the detainee has committed a crime.”
The White House, which has been working on cracking down on rampant illegal immigration, highlighted the case.
“Two unlawfully present El Salvadoran teens have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder of a Maryland girl. Both had previously been arrested for attempted murder. In spite of detainers placed on them, both were released without notification to ICE,” the White House said in a statement.
Teens Forced Girl to Strip Before Murder
Officials said that the gang members and an accomplice, Cynthia Hernandez-Nucamendi, 14, killed Ariana Funes-Diaz.
Maj. Brian Reilly with Prince George’s County police told WTOP that the trio and the girl were involved in a crime in Washington in April and the trio was afraid the girl would tell police about what happened.
Reilly said that the gang members and the female suspect took Funes-Diaz to a wooded area and killed her with a baseball bat and a machete.
“This is a gang that turned on an associate, and extreme violence was used,” he said. “It’s violence that’s disturbing. And they’re not afraid to use it … to send a message in some cases.”
According to court documents obtained by The Washington Post, the teens lured a man Funes-Diaz knew to an abandoned house then beat him as they tried to ascertain whether he belonged to a gang. Funes-Diaz begged the others to stop and he was eventually released.
Within the next 24 hours, she was driven to a complex in Riverdale and taken to a creek, where the trio beat her to death. The killing was captured on a video taken with a cellphone.
Before the beating, she was ordered to strip.
