A Chilean man accused of shooting his girlfriend and her two teenage sons in a New York suburb, leaving one of them dead, sneaked back home after being deported 20 years ago, Immigration and Customs said. enforcement officials told Fox News Digital.
According to New York State Police, Fernando Andres Jimenez Meza, 40, was armed with an illegally-possessed handgun while protecting his girlfriend and two sons at a Somers townhouse around 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 28. He is suspected of using a gun to kill him.
His girlfriend's 15-year-old son, Michael Raimondi, was killed. Michael Raimondi's mother and 13-year-old brother were injured.
The teens' mother, 38, had been dating Jimenez-Meza on and off for the past three or four years. Journal News reported.
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Arraignment of murder suspect Fernando Andres Jimenez Meza on October 29, 2024 in Somers Municipal Court. He was bitten on the arm and leg by a police dog before appearing in court. (Frank Becerra Jr./Journal News/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
At a wake held on Saturday, one of Michael Raimondi's teachers said he had a “rich inner life full of imagination and vibrant, unique ideas” and that “there was a lot of work in him.” There is great depth and creativity in this, and we are only just beginning to uncover it.” [it]. ”
“He loved the magic of origami, the intricacies of cars, and Legos. He could take anything apart and put it back together again,” another teacher said of the 10th grade student. CBS reported.
Jimenez Meza was arrested Wednesday in the nearby town of Putnam Valley following a manhunt after the shooting.
New York State Police are photographed at the scene of a triple shooting at 57 Route 6 in Somers, New York on Tuesday, October 29, 2024. (Mark Vergari/The Journal News/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
When a former NYPD detective turned real estate agent heard that Jimenez Meza was on the loose near his Putnam Valley office, he helped apprehend him. When she noticed that the office air conditioner was lying on the ground without being fitted into the window and the blinds were completely drawn, she checked the office's surveillance camera and heard heavy breathing. The New York Post reported.
She relayed the information to a state trooper who was parked at a nearby intersection.
“I said, 'Listen…I'm 99.9% sure that the guy who shot those three people is in my office right now,'” Patricia Schiller told the Post.
Jiménez Meza was arrested less than 30 minutes later, but a police dog bit him on the arm and leg.
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New York State Police removed murder suspect Fernando Andres Jimenez Meza from Somers Municipal Court following his arraignment on October 29, 2024. (Frank Becerra Jr./Journal News/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
ICE told FOX News Digital that Jimenez-Meza was booked into immigration custody in the Westchester County Jail on Wednesday without bail on charges of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He said he was detained. .
“The horrific murder of a high school student by an illegal immigrant in Summers is a story that has been repeated far too many times across the country,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (RN.Y.) in a statement.
Jimenez Meza told Border Patrol agents he was a Mexican national named Eric Melendez-Arellano when he entered the country illegally near Tecate, Calif., on Aug. 4, 2004, according to an ICE spokesperson. It is said that
According to ICE, he was taken into custody on August 11, 2004 and voluntarily deported to Mexico.
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Fernando Andres Jimenez Meza signed an order of protection against him while in Summers Municipal Court for his October 29, 2024 arraignment. (Frank Becerra Jr./Journal News/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
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On September 11, 2018, Jimenez Meza was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and released with a $500 fine, the New York Post reported. It is unclear whether local authorities knew he was in the country illegally. The same outlet also said he was charged with assault that year, but the case was sealed and details were not immediately available.
