Thread: KS: Murder case and immigration case mingle

Murder case and immigration case mingle
By MIKE McGRAW
The Kansas City Star

A potential witness in a murder investigation in Kansas City is facing deportation, though authorities say they have been discussing the case with immigration officials in hopes of keeping her here.

Federal immigration officials, however, said this week they had not received a formal request from law enforcement asking that the witness be allowed to remain in the United States.

The witness, Lelis Argentina Perez, 42, who is in the country illegally, has talked with the Kansas City Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the murder of her sister last year.

The victim, Katia Lainez, 27, was found in an apartment at 4023 Harvard Circle on March 6, 2009. The Jackson County prosecutor has issued a second-degree murder warrant for the victim’s husband, Luis Corrales.

But Corrales is believed to have fled to Central America with the couple’s 4-year-old daughter, Allyson. The FBI is assisting in attempts to locate her, a bureau spokeswoman said.

Homicide detective Barbara Eckert said that she and the FBI have been discussing the case with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to try to keep Perez and her husband in the United States for the time being.

An ICE spokesman said that he could not discuss specifics of cases, adding that his agency carefully considers such requests from law enforcement agencies. He added, “no such request has been made to ICE regarding this case.â€

Perez added that she fears her former brother-in-law might find her if she is deported to Honduras.

LMAO, he could just as easil find her here.

She was to be deported 9 years ago, being an alleged witness to her sister's murder should have no impact on that at all. If she cares for her niece at all, she should testify regardless of being able to stay here or not. She should be deported either way.

I have a serious problem with the credibility of illegal aliens' testimony, the same way I have a problem believing a perjurer's testimony. They both lie. Is she an actual witness or another illegal gaming the system?

I don't know if Honduras has an extradition agreement with the US, but if both the child's parents are Hondurans she is also a Honduran citizen and I don't think they turn her over to the US. The father is innocent until proven guilty.