An illegal immigrant who was ordered deported from the United States several years ago is now accused of murdering 19-year-old college student Lauryn Nicole Leonard in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Elvis Jamil Cruz Ferrera, an 18-year-old illegal immigrant from Honduras, arrested and Charged He has been charged with negligent homicide for causing the accident that killed Lauryn Nicole Leonard, a forensic science student at Old Dominion University.
On February 19, Cruz Ferrera is accused of driving a vehicle without a license or insurance, causing an accident that killed Leonard, who was driving at the time.
“Lauryn’s light was so bright and she touched so many lives that it was impossible not to smile when in her presence,” Leonard’s obituary reads. read“She lit up any room wherever she was with her soft voice, bubbly personality and gentle presence. She loved her family and friends deeply and she will be forever missed and cherished by all of them.”
Cruz-Ferrera became the first unaccompanied alien child (UAC) to cross the US-Mexico border in October 2016. Two years later, in September 2018, a federal immigration judge ordered Cruz-Ferrera deported after he failed to show up for court after being released on US soil.
Despite the deportation order, Cruz Ferrera was not deported.
In November 2023, Virginia State Police stopped Cruz-Ferrera for speeding. He was stopped again in January 2024 for driving without a license.
In both cases, police did not check for Cruz-Ferrera’s deportation order, which, if they had found one, could have resulted in Cruz-Ferrera being turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and placed in federal custody.
“I think it’s crazy. Why didn’t anybody check in on this? … She’s just focused on herself and then you come out of nowhere and turn my life upside down,” Leonard’s mother, Dana Hargrove, said. The Virginian-Pilot.
“I don’t want to sound like I’m far-right or far-left, but I will say that if the deportations had gone ahead as scheduled, this may not have happened,” said Eric Hargrove, Leonard’s brother.
Cruz-Ferrera remains incarcerated at the Chesapeake City Jail, where ICE agents have issued a detention order against him, requesting that he be held if released at any time.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter. here.
