Immigration

Illegal Immigrant Accused Of Murdering Infant Nephew With 17 Strikes To Head

U.S. Immigrations And Customs Enforcement/Creative Commons/Flickr

Immigration agents are seeking custody of an illegal migrant accused of viciously beating his three-year-old nephew to death.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer request for Samuel Antonio Maldonado-Erazo, a Honduran illegal migrant who settled in western Florida after being allowed into the country by the Biden administration, according to the agency. The Honduran national allegedly beat and abused his nephew, with the child ultimately succumbing to his injuries earlier in March.

The child was left in Maldonado-Erazo’s care after his mother was deported from the U.S. in January and chose not to take him with her.

“This crime is absolutely sickening,” ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a public statement. “This little boy suffered extensively and died when his mother abandoned him to Maldonado-Erazo’s ‘care’ — and Maldonado-Erazo himself is an illegal alien who never should’ve been in this country in the first place.”

Samuel Antonio Maldonado-Erazo. Image courtesy of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Medical professionals responded to a 911 call in Escambia County, Florida, on March 4 and attempted to help the toddler, who was suffering from cardiac arrest and later died at a hospital, according to local reports. Maldonado-Erazo had reportedly brought the child to work earlier that day and ignored signs that the three-year-old was in extreme physical distress.

Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons confirmed that the toddler’s injuries included at least 17 strikes to his head, intentional burns, a broken collarbone, a transected pancreas from blunt force trauma, several broken ribs and extensive bruising, according to ICE. One of the broken ribs was completely detached from his spine.

“Life-saving measures were attempted but unfortunately, he passed,” Simmons said in a public statement, adding that the child also showed signs of possible sexual abuse. “These injuries and the neglect associated with them contributed to his death.”

Maldonado-Erazo unlawfully entered the country in August 2021 and was eventually released with his own daughter under the Biden administration, according to ICE. Immigration agents encountered him on Thursday at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, where he remains in local custody under manslaughter charges.

The Honduran national’s three children — two of whom are American citizens — have been placed into the custody of the Florida Department of Child Services and his wife has since been taken into law enforcement custody, according to ICE.

A spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation about the detainer request. However, state law requires Florida law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration agents, which includes honoring ICE detainers. These pro-ICE policies have resulted in Florida becoming one of the leading states in immigration arrests.

The Trump administration, which has made immigration enforcement a hallmark policy priority, has increasingly encouraged illegal migrants with final deportation orders to take their children with them to avoid family separation. The administration on Wednesday criticized Wendy Esther Hernandez Reyes, the three-year-old’s mother, for not taking her child along with her.

“I encourage parents to self-deport with their children, but even if they choose not to do that, ICE gives them the opportunity to be removed with their kids,” Lyons said in his public statement. “But despite that option, Reyes chose to leave her son here with a violent murderer who took his life.”