The father of one of two suspects in the shooting at a STEM school in Colorado is a Mexican national convicted of violent crimes who has been deported three times.

Jose Evis Quintana, 33, the father of suspect Alec McKinney, 16, is a convicted felon. After a 2009 domestic violence incident with McKinney’s mother, Morgan McKinney, 32, Quintana was jailed for 15 months in Colorado on a felony charge of menacing with a weapon. Alec McKinney, who is transgender and identifies as male, was born to the couple in 2003 as Maya McKinney and is referred in court documents as a female.

After his release from prison in 2010, Quintana — who initially entered the U.S. legally — was deported to Mexico. In divorce papers filed by Morgan McKinney in 2014, she said Quintana had “been traveling illegally between Colorado and Mexico” since his initial deportation.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Alethea Smock confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Quintana has a history of entering the U.S. illegally. She said that between 2010 and 2018 he was removed three times.

“He has a July 2009 aggravated felony conviction for felony menacing with a weapon which made him subject to removal. A federal immigration judge ordered him removed to Mexico Dec. 9, 2010. He has illegally re-entered the U.S. at least twice after his initial removal,” Smock said in a statement.

Depending on the immigrant’s record, a convicted felon who is deported but reenters the U.S. can be charged with a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. It is not clear why Quintana was not charged after reentering the U.S. or where he is now.

Alec McKinney was one of two suspects who allegedly carried out the May 7 shooting at the STEM School Highlands Ranch in Highlands Ranch, Colo., that left one student dead and eight others wounded.



Jose Evis Quintana (Douglas County Sheriff)



Along with the other suspect, Devon Erickson, 18, McKinney is alleged to have broken into the gun cabinet of Erickson’s parents to steal the weapons that were used in the shooting. Prosecutors decided last week to charge McKinney as an adult. In Colorado, 16 is the youngest someone can be charged as an adult. McKinney and Erickson are each facing 48 charges, including murder and attempted murder.

Erickson’s social media posts from 2016 and earlier show that Erickson was critical of President Trump and supportive of former President Barack Obama and the left-wing Occupy Democrats. At one point, he denounced "all these Christians who hate gays."

The two were arrested after some of the students fought back the alleged shooters. The student who died, Kendrick Castillo, was killed while charging the shooter. Last week Colorado Gov. Jared Polis proclaimed May 15 "Kendrick Castillo Day."