Man accused of killing five people in Kansas and Missouri was in U.S. illegally

[tomm2thumbs]

Source: LA Times

Mexican man accused of killing five people in the Midwest this week was a convicted felon living in the U.S. illegally, and he had not been deported despite being arrested at least twice in recent years, federal officials said. <snip>

Serrano-Vitorino faces five counts of murder and other charges on suspicion of killing four men on Monday night in Kansas City, Kan., and then going on the run and killing another man almost 200 miles to the east in New Florence, Mo. Officials have not given a motive. The case could have political implications, given Serrano-Vitorino's immigration status and his criminal history, which includes a felony conviction in Los Angeles County from 2003. Serrano-Vitorino was deported to Mexico in 2004 but illegally returned to the U.S. sometime later, officials said.

Missouri's primary presidential election is next week, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and other immigration critics have cited the death of Kathryn Steinle -- who was shot in San Francisco in July by a felon from Mexico living in the U.S. illegally -- to call for harsher measures to control illegal immigration

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-missouri-kansas-suspect-20160309-story.html#nt=oft12aH-1gp2

---

You can bet this is going to be front and center by the Republicans after the Spanish-speaking debate and both candidates saying they'd be for legalization of immigrants.

Hopefully America can see through the smokescreen of distraction that Trump and his buddies are going to drum up incessantly.



and there's the picture to give them ammunition - ugh - this is going to be a long week

[jtuck004]

1. Killed 4 people, then drove 200 m to kill another. Were they all in the same gang or

criminal conspiracy, I wonder? He sure seems to have been on a mission.

[Fast Walker 52]

4. yeah-- bizarre. Without knowing more details on the victims

it does sound like gang or organized crime activity.

[LisaL]

7. He wasn't driving 200 m to specifically kill another guy. He was running away from murder spree

when he killed his last victim, whom he likely didn't even know.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/missouri-victim-in-bi-state-murders-was-machinist-businessman-rc/article_88848b7d-269f-54d4-91e9-6fc7041af187.html

[Jitter65]

2. This is only going to spark more violence against law-abiding immigrants in our communities. Please

we must be ready to step in and help them when we can. Bullies are everywhere and they don't just bully immigrants either.

[Bluenorthwest]

3. There is no violence against immigrants in my community. Where are you that you have such horrors?

nt

[Abouttime]

10. Exactly

This tragedy has nothing to do with race or legal status, the real question is where did the gun come from? If we could trace the chain of custody back to the manufacturer and hold all responsible gun violence would plummet.
We need to make the risk and cost of owing firearms so expensive people think twice about possessing them.

[christx30]

11. It has everything to do with legal status.

He's not just an undocumented immigrant. He's a criminal alien, as in he had committed crimes while in the US. He should have either been in jail, or he should have been in another country.
Well, looks like he won't have to worry about being deported ever again, since he's going to spend the rest of his life in prison.

[Abouttime]

12. Yes, a criminal

He's a murderer. Any mention of his immigration status is political grandstanding.

[SmittynMo]

5. Arrested at least twice in recent years, federal officials said?

Gee, do you think there's an issue with the criminal justice system? Hmm. Doesn't Bernie point this out?

I'm just saying,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[LisaL]

6. Yes, nobody but Bernie ever pointed this out.

[Javaman]

8. Don't worry folks, the right wing will use this as a reason to deport all immigrants...

trump will say something like "Look, this is yuuge, these illegal's (sic) are coming here and gunning down our citizens! My first job will be to build that wall!!! then to deport everyone that isn't white!!!!"

never mind that we have daily mass killings now in this country by our own citizens, who also happen to be white, but pish posh.

[Eugene]

9. He had a recent battery arrest. ICE and the local authorities are pointing fingers at each other.

The Latest: Man Accused of Killing 5 Had Battery Conviction (Associated Press)

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-police-id-victims-kansas-quadruple-homicide-37518531

[lovuian]

13. this is occurring everywhere in the US

here in Houston my friends house was looted....police didn't do much at first until my friend went down the street and asked her neighbors for their surveillance cameras footage....she discovered the car license number and the police started a sting operation
which captured the four men who was looting five houses on one street and who had not changed the license on the getaway car

but here's the deal...they were illegal and from Columbia
they'd been arrested and jailed and deported four times and were back a fifth time and arrested and jailed again

What's going on?

[rockfordfile]

14. No it's not

Stop the racist republican crap.

It's good they caught this pos murder. They shouldn't have let him out when he was arrested. This has been a problem for years at a time with people that probably shouldn't have been let go.

[JustinL]

15. Uber driver accused of killing six people in Michigan was in U.S. legally

Why don't we see headlines like that?