Thread: VA: Police: Slaying suspect in US illegally

Police: Slaying suspect in US illegally
David Luna Sanchez, 21, is charged with second-degree murder.
By Chase Purdy
Published: July 8, 2010
» 1 Comment

A year before his arrest in a Waynesboro killing, illegal immigrant David Luna Sanchez walked free on local streets after the beating of the man police say he later stabbed to death, authorities said Wednesday.

Officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, the undermanned federal agency charged with tracking down and deporting people in the country illegally, might not have heard of Sanchez. The prosecutor in the beating never notified ICE of Sanchez, 21, a Mexican immigrant living in Lyndhurst, and city police say they’re not required to point the feds to potential illegals.

Sanchez is charged with second-degree murder in last week’s killing of Eduardo Herrera, 38, of Waynesboro. In December 2008, Sanchez and two other men attacked Herrera with a baseball bat in an argument over a 12-pack of Natural Light beer.

The saga of Sanchez highlights dilemmas for law enforcement in the illegal immigration debate, which raged anew earlier this week when the federal Justice Department sued Arizona over a new state law that tasks police there with checking the immigration status of people they suspect of being illegals and with whom they come in contact while enforcing other laws.

Laws similarly aimed at giving local authorities a greater hand in tracking illegals have been proposed in Virginia but have died in the legislature, with some police chafing at the possible added burden.

In the case of Sanchez, existing holes in the illegal immigration net cleared a path to what police describe as a second, fatal encounter with Herrera.

Sanchez and two others pleaded guilty in the beating of Herrera at an apartment building on 260 N. Commerce Ave. in Waynesboro. The felony offense kept Sanchez in jail for six months while his case worked through the courts but a judge released him on a suspended sentence last summer. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Camblos, who prosecuted the case, said he did not contact ICE regarding Sanchez.

On June 27, almost a year to the date of Sanchez’ release, police say he stabbed Herrera in an alley behind the same apartment complex where the beating took place. Authorities in Florida apprehended Sanchez and another man wanted in the slaying, Abeil Vazquez, 18, of Waynesboro, on Sunday.

While Waynesboro police collect fingerprints and information from serious criminal offenders, local authorities do not necessarily contact ICE to alert agents to cases possibly involving illegal immigants, said Sgt. Kelly Walker, police spokesman.

“Not unless we think we have someone here who is either wanted by the feds or who has been previously deported,â€

This is a prime example of why laws like AZ SB 1070 are NECESSARY!