NYC subway burning suspect, Laken Riley’s killer among illegal immigrants accused of preying on Americans
Communities nationwide have been left on edge by illegal immigrants who have taken advantage of a lax southern border under the Biden-Harris administration and victimized innocent Americans.
Through the efforts of police and prosecutors, an example was set with the arrests or convictions of these migrants for their violent crimes in 2024.
1. Guatemalan immigrant accused of setting woman on fire in NYC subway
Sebastian Zapeta, a previously deported immigrant from Guatemala, was indicted on one count of first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder and one count of arson after a woman was lit on fire and burned to death on a subway train Dec. 22 in Brooklyn, New York.
ILLEGAL MIGRANT INDICTED ON MURDER CHARGES AFTER WOMAN IS BURNED TO DEATH ON SUBWAY
Surveillance video showed the suspect, believed to be Zapeta, approaching the woman, who was sitting motionless and may have been sleeping aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station.
Then, she was set on fire.
"As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim," New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a press conference, adding the female victim was in a seated position. "The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds."
Zapeta was apprehended by Border Patrol and deported by the Trump administration June 7, 2018, after he crossed illegally into Sonoita, Arizona, a week before that, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson Jeff Carter told Fox News. Zapeta later reentered the U.S. illegally at an unknown date and location, Carter said.
2. Venezuelan migrant Jose Ibarra sentenced in Laken Riley's murder
In November, a Georgia judge convicted and sentenced Jose Ibarra, the suspect accused of murdering Augusta University student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus in February.
Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge Patrick Haggard found Ibarra guilty of 10 counts, including one count of malice murder, three counts of felony murder, one count of kidnapping, one count of aggravated assault with intent to rape, one count of aggravated battery, one count of hindering a 911 call, one count of tampering with evidence and one count of being a "peeping Tom."
Ibarra pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Prosecutors said Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela, attacked and killed Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, while she was jogging along trails near Lake Herrick on the University of Georgia campus in Athens the morning of Feb. 22.
LAKEN RILEY MURDER: JUDGE SENTENCES COLLEGE STUDENT KILLER AFTER FAMILY ADDRESSES 'MONSTER' IN COURT
3. Mexican citizen arrested for girlfriend's murder after removal from US
Brandon Ortiz-Vite, who was deported to his home country of Mexico in 2020, was arrested on murder charges in March for the killing of a Michigan woman after he allegedly reentered the United States illegally.
Ortiz-Vite, who is being held at the Kent County, Michigan, jail, faces charges of felony murder, open murder, carjacking, carrying a concealed weapon and felony use of a firearm after the body of 25-year-old Ruby Garcia was discovered on U.S. 131 in downtown Grand Rapids.
The pair had been in a romantic relationship at the time of the killing, police said.
Ortiz-Vite, 25, "was arrested by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Detroit on Aug. 31, 2020, and served a notice to appear. He was ordered removed by an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) Sept. 24, 2020, and was removed to Mexico Sept. 29, 2020," a spokesperson for ICE told Fox News Digital.
"At an unknown date and location, Ortiz-Vite reentered the United States without inspection by an immigration official.
"On Mar. 24, 2024, ERO Detroit encountered Ortiz-Vite pursuant to him being arrested by the Michigan State Police and charged him with murder and other crimes," the spokesperson added. "ERO Detroit lodged a detainer with the Kent County Jail for Ortiz-Vite."
4. Honduran national accused of attempted hiking trail rape, sexual assaults
During a press conference in November, Virginia's Herndon Police Department announced that Denis Humberto Naverette Romero, 31, was charged with abduction with intent to defile and rape a stranger he grabbed off a trail.
On Nov. 24, officers responded to the W&OD Trail for a call about a woman who approached a passerby and asked for help after she said she had been raped.
The victim told police Romero grabbed her, forced her to the ground and raped her.
The woman was able to fight off the attacker and run away to get help. Police located Romero shortly afterward.
Romero, a Honduran national, has a documented history of sexual assaults and indecent exposures in the region dating back to 2022, according to Herndon Police Chief Maggie DeBoard.
A source close to the matter told Fox News Digital Romero is homeless and has been in and out of jail but never served any significant time. He has also had multiple charges dropped to less serious offenses by prosecutors, the source explained.
5. Migrant wanted for murder in Dominican Republic accused of killing New York family
Julio Cesar Pimentel-Soriano, originally from the Dominican Republic, was arrested in September for allegedly murdering a New York family of four in their home.
On Aug. 31, Fraime Ubaldo, 30; Marangely Moreno-Santiago, 26; Evangeline Ubaldo-Moreno, 4; and Sebastian Ubaldo-Moreno, 2, were murdered in their home, the Irondequoit Police Department wrote in a post on X.
"This was a horrific scene," Irondequoit Police Chief Scott Peters said at a press conference. "In almost 32 years of doing this job, I haven't seen anything like it."
ILLEGAL ALIEN FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SUSPECTED IN MURDER OF NEW YORK STATE FAMILY: POLICE
Police arrested Pimentel-Soriano Sept. 7.
"It appears Mr. Soriano entered the island of Puerto Rico illegally and obtained fraudulent New York identification," Irondequoit Police said. "With that identification, he was free to travel from Puerto Rico to the United States mainland."
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Pimentel-Soriano was wanted for a 2019 murder in his own country at the time of his arrest, according to the department.
Fox News Digital's Audrey Conklin, Michael Dorgan and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.