UPDATE:Middlesex County shifts blame on ICE for release of illegal immigrant charged with three Missouri murders

NEW BRUNSWICK - The federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is blaming the Middlesex County Jail for not detaining an illegal immigrant who has been charged with three murders in Springfield, Missouri.

Middlesex County in turn is blaming ICE.

Luis Rodrigo Perez, 23, who is being held without bail in Missouri, was released from the custody of the Middlesex County Jail earlier this year after an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) detainer was declined, according to a news release from ICE.

ICE had issued a detainer and requested notification prior to his release, so that he could be taken into ICE custody and placed in deportation proceedings.

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But, in accordance with a policy adopted by the freeholders, Middlesex County Jail did not honor the detainer, did not notify ICE upon completion of the criminal proceedings, and released Perez into the community, according to the news release.

“Yet again, an ICE detainer was ignored and a dangerous criminal alien was released to the streets and is now charged with killing three people,” ICE Acting Executive Associate Director Corey Price said in the release. “Had ICE’s detainer request in December 2017 been honored by Middlesex County Jail, Luis Rodrigo Perez would have been placed in deportation proceedings and likely sent home to his country – and three innocent people might be alive today. It is past time that localities realize the perils of dangerous sanctuary policies and resume their primary goal of protecting their residents.”

“This tragedy might have been avoided had it not been for the reckless policy required of the Middlesex County Jail by their county officials,” John Tsoukaris, Field Office Director of ERO Newark, said the release. “Despite such policies, ICE ERO will continue to enforce federal immigration law and prioritize public safety in the community.”

After his release from the jail in February, Perez eventually made his way to Missouri where he has been charged earlier this month with shooting three people to death and wounding two others.

“We have tried unsuccessfully to work with Middlesex County Jail in the interest of public safety to accept detainers and to contact ICE prior to releasing criminals." Tsoukaris said. "There have been other cases where ICE detainers were not honored and those released went on to commit serious crimes. In this most recent case, Perez had a violent history, but despite that, the detainer was not honored. We hope that this tragic turn of events forces Middlesex to reconsider its policy and that the local elected officials stop protecting criminal aliens.”

In Perez's case, county officials said via email from a spokeswoman Friday, ICE was advised the county wouldn’t honor its detainer request in December because it didn’t meet the necessary criteria

During the ensuing 51 days Perez was in custody, officials wrote, ICE didn’t request an order of deportation from a federal judge.

“This order would have authorized Middlesex County to turn over custody of Mr. Perez prior to, or upon completion of his sentence,” they wrote. “Instead ICE officials chose to do nothing, which places all responsibility of Mr. Perez’s actions squarely upon ICE."

ICE has railed against so-called “sanctuary cities” and policies it says compromise public safety; immigrant advocates argue the agency targets suspects who have been charged but not yet found guilty, depriving them of the right to contest the charges.

The Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders adopted a policy in 2017 to not comply with ICE detainers except for inmates who have been convicted of either a first- or second-degree offense, or those who are the subject of a final order of deportation signed by a federal judge.

In July, ICE officers arrested 37 people during a five-day operation targeting immigrants who had been previously held at the Middlesex County Jail.

Of those arrested this summer, 16 people had been released from by the Middlesex County Jail. In those cases the jail did not honor detainers to hold undocumented immigrants charged or convicted of crimes for 48 hours past their release date so immigration agents can pick them up, ICE said in a news release announcing the arrests. ICE also said in the release that 78 percent of those arrested had prior criminal convictions or pending charges.

Among those arrested in the operation were citizens of Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Gutatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru and Turkey.

Those arrested were between the ages of 21 and 68, and faced charges that included aggravated criminal sexual contact, aggravated assault, driving while intoxicated, hindering apprehension, endangering the welfare of a child, battery, theft, burglary, possession of a weapon, forgery, domestic violence assault, disorderly conduct and illegal entry.

At that time, ICE officials also criticized Middlesex County for its policy.

"Middlesex County, which aspires to be a sanctuary county by protecting criminal aliens, in the process assists criminals in undermining federal law, and creates a dangerous environment in the community,'' Ruben Perez, acting field office director of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations in Newark, said in the press release. "It also overburdens local law enforcement."

The murders

Perez and his girlfriend, who still lives in New Brunswick, have been charged in connection with the three Missouri murders.

Perez has been charged with the shooting deaths of Aaron "Joshua" Hampton and Steven Marler on Nov. 1. and the murder of Sabrina Starr, who died of multiple gunshot wounds, on Nov. 3.

In addition, Perez is facing two counts of first-degree assault for allegedly shooting two other victims, who survived, on Nov. 1.

His girlfriend, Dalia Garcia, 23, has been charged with tampering with physical evidence for destroying physical evidence, according to a press release from the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney.

Perez is being held in the Greene County without bail. Garcia is being held on $75,000 bail.

Garcia, who had arrived in Springfield on a Greyhound bus on Nov. 2, admitted to police that she had burned Perez's clothes with blood on them near a gas station on Nov. 5, according to a Probable Cause Affidavit filed by the Springfield Police Department.

Garcia told the police that it was a situation where it was "kill or be killed," the affidavit says.

The violence spree began after Perez was kicked out of a home where he lived with the first two murder victims, according to court papers.

Perez returned to the home and opened fire on his ex-roommates, killing two and injuring two more.

A witness told police that Perez had said that the two victims "had to go" because "they knew too much," police said in the affidavit,

The witness also said that if she snitched, she would be next, the affidavit said.

Days before the rampage, Perez had received a gun from Starr, who had stolen the 9 mm Glock out of a car, police say.

A week later, on Saturday, Starr was found dead in her home. She had been shot six times.

Perez had been living with Starr after getting kicked out of the other home. She gave him the gun, police say, and in exchange, he gave her some tattoos.

Starr posted photos on Facebook on Oct. 28 that show Perez tattooing four words on her neck: "Kill or be killed."

Also charged in connection with the first shootings is Aaron Anderson, 19, who has been charged as an accomplice in the first four shootings.

Anderson told police he and Starr went along with Perez the night of the double homicide, but they remained in the car, court papers say.

"Anderson stated Perez was on speaker phone with them during the shooting and he could hear the victims begging for their lives," according to the probable cause affidavit that police filed with the court.

Police say Anderson told them Perez went back to the house after an initial shooting and fired more rounds.

The shooting allegedly left Perez covered in blood.

A week later, Starr was found dead in her home.

An off-duty officer spotted Perez walking into a Springfield Walmart on Monday with Anderson and Garcia. They were arrested without incident.

Perez admitted to police he knew all of the victims, but denied any involvement in the crimes.

Giacomo Bologna of the Springfield News-Leader and USA Today Network contributed to this story, as well as the Associated Press

Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6607; mdeak@mycentraljersey.com