Chilean shooter charged in NY teen’s murder is illegal immigrant previously deported 20 years ago: ICE
The Chilean national charged with shooting his upstate girlfriend and her two teen sons — killing one of the boys — is an illegal immigrant who snuck back into the US after being deported, federal sources told The Post Thursday.
Fernando Andres Jimenez Meza, 40, was deported 20 years ago after being nabbed at the US border in California but was back in the country Monday when he allegedly shot his girlfriend Christina Raimondi and her two sons, ages 14 and 16, in a townhouse on Route 6 in Somers.
The shooting sparked a massive manhunt that ended when he was nabbed in Putnam County.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Jimenez Meza was taken into custody in Tecate, California, on Aug. 11, 2004, and claimed he was a Mexican native named Erik Melendez-Arellano.
ICE said he was voluntarily deported to Mexico — but re-entered the US at some point.
Jimenez Meza was arrested in Yonkers on Sept. 11, 2018 on a drunken driving charge but was released on a $500 fine, according to records and sources. It is unclear if local authorities were aware that Jimenez Meza was in the country illegally when he was arrested then.
According to sources, he was also charged with assault that year but the case was sealed so details are not available.
Some local pols blamed the state’s immigration sanctuary status for allowing Jimenez Meza to remain in the country despite prior brushes with the law.
Sanctuary states and cities vow not to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, including Westchester County, which passed the Immigrant Protection Act in 2018.
Although local officials have claimed it is not a sanctuary policy, the statute prevents the county from cooperating with federal agencies based on a suspect’s national origin and other factors.
“The horrific murder of a high school student in my district is just more proof that we need to repeal New York’s and Westchester’s sanctuary policies,” state Assemblyman Matt Slater (R-Yorktown), who also represents Somer, said in an email Thursday.
US Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) agreed.
“The horrific killing in Somers of a high school child by an illegal immigrant is a story that’s been repeated across the nation far too many times,” he said in a statement.
“And in New York, it happened precisely because [Gov.] Kathy Hochul and Democrats in NY refused to cooperate with ICE.”
ICE said the agency lodged an immigration detainer with the Westchester County Jail on Wednesday.
ICE detainers are requests lodged with local authorities to hold illegal migrants who would otherwise be released for 48 hours to allow federal agents to take them into custody.
A spokesperson for Westchester County insisted that “we work cooperatively with ICE,” but did not say if the detainer would be honored.
“Our commitment has always been to public safety,” the rep said.
A spokesperson for the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office said in an email that “immigration laws and policies are civil matters that have nothing to do with DA’s Offices.”
The spokesperson referred questions to law enforcement.
Former Republican Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino vetoed sanctuary legislation to protect illegal immigrants from deportation, only to see it approved by Democrats after he lost re-election in 2017..
“This murderer is the type of person that Kathy Hochul, Kamala Harris and Democrats are protecting with these open border and sanctuary policies,” Astorino said.
“This is insane. It defies logic,” Astorino said.
— Additional reporting by Joe Marino
