Illegal Migrant Arrested for Murder of Girlfriend After Border Agents Released Him

A migrant who entered the country illegally and was released by border agents shortly after allegedly murdered his girlfriend just weeks later.
Gerber Luis Sanchez-Centeno, 23, is accused of killing Dania Cruz-Mejia, 18, on September 18.
ICE officers had fitted the suspect with a GPS tag and released him into the community, but by August 8 authorities stopped their supervision after he absconded.
Cruz-Mejia’s sister, Maria, told Newsweek of her sadness at the killing.
“She was a happy girl. She was always very positive to any challenges, problems, that she endured.
“When they told me, it was the saddest day. Dania was one of the people I most loved in my life,” she said.
Cruz-Mejia arrived in the U.S. five months ago and was studying cosmetology and taking English classes.
Her teacher, Vivian Salazar, told Newsweek: “I went into despair. I went into my principal’s office and I just broke down. It was just so painful.”
“She was just so excited about learning English, when most kids don’t express themselves, they don’t speak. But she wasn’t afraid,” she added.
Montgomery County Police Department said the victim’s family found her body at her home in Montgomery Village.
According to a GoFundMe set up to support the victim’s family, Sanchez-Centeno joined Cruz-Mejia in Maryland just ten days before her death.
Her sister, Maria Cruz-Mejia, said he had shown no signs of being abusive, but once her sister was dead people who knew the couple alleged he had been abusive toward his girlfriend. It wasn’t clear if she’d come to the U.S. to get away from him, Maria added.
“Dania wanted to come to the United States because she wanted a better life,” Maria said. “She lost her dad when she was around six or seven years old.”
Their mother is still in El Salvador and cannot get to the U.S., so wants to bring her daughter back home.
ERO Baltimore Spokesperson James Covington told Newsweek: “Gerber Luis Sanchez-Centeno is an unlawfully present 23-year-old Salvadoran national.
“U.S. Border Patrol apprehended Sanchez June 2 after he unlawfully entered the United States near Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Later that day, ERO El Paso placed Sanchez into the Alternatives to Detention program with a GPS monitor.
“ERO El Paso terminated Sanchez from ATD Aug. 8, as he absconded from the program.
“The Montgomery County Police Department arrested Sanchez Sept. 20 and charged him with the murder of his girlfriend. Sanchez remains in the custody of authorities in Montgomery County, Maryland.
“ERO Baltimore lodged an immigration detainer against Sanchez Sept 23, 2024 with the Montgomery County Detention Center.”
ICE’s Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program ensures noncitizens comply with release conditions while remaining in their communities.
Salazar told Newsweek that on the Wednesday the young woman was killed, she was due to start practicing with a dance group for Hispanic Heritage Month and had told Maria that she needed to find a dress.
Maria said she is now looking instead for a dress for Dania for her burial.
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