Teen illegal immigrant who killed woman in Colorado crash gets probation, then is arrested by ICE with family
An illegal immigrant teenager who was spared jail time after he was convicted of killing a Colorado woman in a high-speed crash has been arrested, along with his family, by immigration authorities.
The 16-year-old from Colombia was sentenced to probation and community service for the July 2024 death of Kaitlyn Weaver, 24, in Aurora after striking a plea deal with prosecutors.
Advertisement
The teen, who has not been publicly named because of state laws that shield the identity of underage criminal suspects, was arrested May 20 along with his family, who were also living in the United States illegally, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.
'The minor was convicted in Colorado's 18th Judicial District and was sentenced to probation and community service,' an ICE spokesperson told Fox News. 'As part of its routine operations, ICE arrests aliens who commit crimes and other individuals who have violated our nation's immigration laws. All aliens in violation of US immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States, regardless of nationality.'
The teen will remain in ICE custody pending an immigration hearing, the agency said.
4 ICE agents arrested the 16-year-old Colombian migrant responsible for the death of Kaitlyn Weaver in July 2024.
ICE Denver
Advertisement
Weaver died after she was sitting in her vehicle at a stop sign and the teen T-boned Weaver's vehicle at an intersection.
He was in a Jeep with other minors racing in a residential neighborhood at speeds of up to 90 mph, authorities said.
Weaver was kept on life support for two days before she was taken off after her organs were donated.
4 Kaitlyn Weaver died after she was sitting in her vehicle at a stop sign and the teen T-boned Weaver's vehicle at an intersection.
Family Handout
Advertisement
Her father, John Weaver, told Fox News Digital that he was told by US Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., that ICE would be taking action against the teen.
'I appreciate ICE taking enforcement action, and I really appreciate the outpouring of support from everyone,' Weaver said Thursday.
The teen was arrested and initially charged with vehicular homicide. At the time, the Weavers were told by the Arapahoe County District Attorney's office that the case was a 'no plea offer' case, John Weaver said.
4 The damage to Weaver's car after the fatal crash in Aurora, Colorado.
Aurora Police Department
Advertisement
They then offered the teen a plea deal if he admitted his guilt.
At the time, the Weaver family attorney, Matthew Durkin, called the deal 'abhorrent,' in an interview with Fox News Digital, noting that Weaver was killed during the prime of her life.
John Weaver noted at the time that the teen was in the US illegally and unlicensed.
4 Police investigate the crash as firefighters attempt to extract Weaver from her mangled car.
Aurora Police Department
'We had a collision where the immigration system and the criminal justice system collided, and now my daughter's dead,' he said.
The teen has a pending asylum claim, but, according to ICE, asylum claims do not prevent detention.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Lawrence, Limestone sheriffs seek authority to enforce federal immigration laws
May 31—The sheriff's offices in Lawrence and Limestone counties applied this month to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to have the power to make arrests for suspected violations of federal immigration laws, a step that some fear will lead immigrants to stop reporting crime. "It basically means immigrant community members are at risk any time they want to report a crime, ask for help, or call 911," said Allison Hamilton, executive director of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice. "They are very unlikely to do so because of the risk that law enforcement would then target them for their immigration status." Lawrence County Chief Deputy Brian Covington said Thursday his department is awaiting guidance from ICE officials on how to proceed with what ICE refers to as the task force model, which authorizes deputies to enforce federal immigration laws. The task force model is one of three levels of authority under the 287(g) program — named after a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act — implemented in 1996 to allow local and state law enforcement to help identify and remove undocumented immigrants from the U.S. The other models are the jail enforcement model, which allows corrections officers to begin immigration proceedings for people already in their custody, and the warrant service officer model, which allows deputies to execute civil immigration warrants. Both the Limestone and Lawrence sheriff's offices joined the warrant service officer program this month, and Lawrence also obtained authority under the jail enforcement model. Hoss Mack, executive director of the Alabama Sheriffs Association, said the 287(g) program's jail enforcement model has been used in some parts of Alabama for at least 14 years. He said there are eight sheriff's offices in Alabama that have applied for the program so far this year. "It gave authority for a county jailer to be trained to ask specific questions to determine if someone might be in the country illegally, and then refer that to an ICE officer," Mack said. Mack became the association's executive director Sept. 1 after retiring from a 39-year law enforcement career that included 17 years as Baldwin County sheriff. The task force model was discontinued by ICE during the Obama administration after several controversial arrests, particularly by then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County, Arizona, and findings by the Justice Department that local law enforcement were engaged in racial profiling. ICE resurrected the task force model this year. Covington said undocumented immigrants rarely commit crimes in Lawrence County, but his department requested the task force authority to increase participation in law enforcement partnerships. "We're in the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency narcotics task force and have three deputies assigned to it," Covington said. "This would expand our capabilities in areas like human trafficking, gang activity and drug smuggling. We're not planning to put task force officers on the street to seek out undocumented immigrants." He emphasized that deputies are not actively patrolling for immigration violations. "Our deputies just go from call to call," he said. The Limestone County Sheriff's Office did not respond to requests for comment and the Morgan County Sheriff's Office said it is not requesting authority to act as an ICE task force at this time. "The Morgan County Jail already notifies ICE about anyone whose immigration status is in question when they get to jail," said Sheriff's Office spokesman Mike Swafford. "Additionally, we recently executed a funding (memorandum of understanding) with ICE, but that pertains to narcotics related investigation and allows for reimbursement for time spent on those cases." — Task force authority Unlike the jail enforcement model, the task force model allows officers to enforce federal immigration laws during routine policing — with ICE oversight — including making arrests without a warrant in some cases. ICE refers to it as a "force multiplier." Under the program, trained officers have the power: —To interrogate any person believed to be an undocumented immigrant as to their right to be in the United States and to process for immigration violations those who have been arrested for state or federal criminal offenses. —To arrest without a warrant any undocumented immigrant if the officer has reason to believe the person is in the United States in violation of a law and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. —To arrest without warrant if felonies have been committed which are cognizable under any law regulating the removal of undocumented immigrants, if the officer has reason to believe the immigrant is in violation of law and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. Although the model allows arrests without warrants, Mack stressed that probable cause is still required. "Just saying I see someone walking down the street and he has got a different skin color or different hair color, that is not enough," Mack said. "You have to have a reason. If a law enforcement officer makes contact with them and they have no identification, that would be probable cause. If they go to an employer, and they try to get a job and they present false documentation, that's probable cause. If they try to file for certain benefits and are unable to produce (identification), that's probable cause." Mack also cited "cluster living," or multiple individuals residing in one home, as another indicator that could trigger an immigration status check. Before the task force model was adopted, patrol officers were barred from questioning people about their immigration status or country of origin, Mack said. "I go all the way back to when ICE was U.S. Customs," Mack said. "As a state officer, you could not enforce any federal law unless there was a designation. So, what 287(g) does is it gives the state officer the official designation to do that. Used to, if we believed someone was illegal, we would just have to hold them there and get an ICE agent on the phone and ask them to come to where we were at, because we did not have any authority to enforce a federal law." Mack said immigrants who are victims of crime have no reason to fear local law enforcement. "If a person is a victim of a crime and they are an illegal and they don't have a criminal record, then they cannot be deported," Mack said. "They are protected if they have been a victim of a crime until the (completion) of our case." He said Hispanic-on-Hispanic crime is often underreported — likely due to fear of deportation. "Keep in mind everyone that might be questioned or detained is not going to be deported," Mack said. "There are people here who are not criminals. They may have entered illegally, but they're not criminals; they don't have a record. They're documenting a criminal act, and I'm hoping throughout that process where they see not everyone is getting deported, that it might build a little bit of trust that there is a process to go through. It's not just a one-for-all fit." Mack said ICE agents will give a presentation on the 287(g) program at the Alabama Sheriffs Association's annual conference in July for sheriffs who have applied to participate. Covington said there are federal forms that can be filed for crime victims, and those are presented in court. "You know, if someone is the victim or a witness of a crime in the state or the county, then why would you want to deport your victim if you need them in court," Covington said. "We need to seek justice on people, so we need witnesses to be party to that." But Hamilton disagreed, saying such legal protections often aren't upheld in practice. "We have seen many cases (in Alabama) where people are reporting a crime and end up being targeted," Hamilton said. "This is not something that local immigrant communities are counting on and it's not something we see in practice regularly. Communities are not feeling comfortable talking to law enforcement about crimes." Hamilton also warned the program could divert officers from their daily responsibilities and increase racial profiling. "Immigration enforcement is often connected with racial profiling," Hamilton said. "ICE needs very little reason to detain someone they suspect is undocumented and that's why you see them detaining citizens and people with valid paperwork. They may just be relying on how that person looks or how they sound or where they are as a probable cause." Another advocacy group, Purple People Resistance of Alabama, has urged lawmakers and residents to oppose local participation in 287(g) agreements. The group, founded in January, describes itself as a grassroots collective of activists and veterans focused on civil rights and resisting authoritarianism. "These agreements erode the foundational trust between communities and the police," founder Melanie Kolowski said in a statement. "Instead of focusing on their core mission to 'protect and serve,' law enforcement officers are being redirected to act as de facto immigration agents — a role for which they are not properly trained and for which they lack critical access to immigration databases. As a result, individuals who are not in violation of immigration laws are often wrongfully detained, causing unnecessary hardship for them and their families." Kolowski said the program could cause a "ripple effect" in communities, where fear of law enforcement leads to crimes going unreported and victims going unprotected. "When people are too afraid to seek help, it allows perpetrators to continue harming others with impunity — creating more victims and making our communities less safe," Kolowski said. — or 256-340-2442.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Immigration arrests surge in Central Florida. Could they max out Orange's jail?
Pressure from the Trump administration to escalate immigration arrests has led to huge spike in the number of people detained by ICE in Central Florida and raised fears that the Orange County jail could eventually hit its capacity. The number of detainees held in the local jail for immigration violations so far this year is nearly 400% higher than last year, officials said. Before a panel of sheriffs and police chiefs last month, Orange Public Safety Director Danny Banks warned of the possible consequences of the surge of detainees — including some who had never before set foot in the county. 'I'm fearful that it's going to lead us to maxing out our jail space,' he said of an influx of ICE inmates coming from Orange and neighboring counties. The Pinellas County sheriff is already staring down Banks' fears, with 200 inmates in his county jail sleeping on the floor because of the flood of new detainees held for immigration violations. In the past month alone, 267 people were booked into the Orange County jail solely on immigration charges, compared with 259 in the prior four months combined, according to data obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. The Orange County jail is one of only a handful in the state authorized to hold people for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That means people arrested in places as far away as Indian River and Polk counties — in some cases about 100 miles from the jail just south of downtown Orlando — are being booked into the local facility. Banks said if arrests keep climbing as expected, as more local law enforcement agencies are deputized by federal authorities, the county jail's bed space could be maxed out. 'I do think it's going to get to that,' Banks said Friday. 'I expect the numbers will go up. That will increase the daily number of bookings and we're going to get closer and closer to our capacity.' As of Friday morning, 3,099 inmates were housed at the Orange County Jail, which has a capacity of about 4,000 beds. About 10 of those were from outside of Orange on ICE detainers, said Tracy Zampaglione, a jail spokesperson. Banks said that the number fluctuates day to day, with little notice. For instance, on one recent day, the Florida Highway Patrol brought over about 40 immigration detainees from Lake County, Banks said. Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said his county, which like Orange has a federal agreement with ICE, wants federal leaders to let all of Florida's jails house those arrested in their respective counties. 'We have to keep other housing units free for these ICE inmates, which are coming from all over the place, before they can get them on the bus' to an Ice processing center, he said. 'We're out of space,' he added. 'There's an infrastructure problem.' Across Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties combined, local authorities have seen 1,796 people who have been processed with ICE detainers so far this year, with 1,485 turned over to federal authorities, according to data obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. In all of 2024, Orange County booked about 800 people on such detainers. By May 28, 2025's count had already hit 1,314 people. That surge is largely a product of federal authorities inputting thousands more warrants into the National Crime Information Center, which alerts law enforcement of a warrant when they plug somebody's name into a computer during traffic stops or other encounters. 'Any occasion in which law enforcement comes across someone where they run their information — a traffic stop, or they show up to the house for an argument, historically that call didn't necessitate an arrest,' Banks said. 'Unfortunately, now they're forced to arrest them.' Fewer than 1 in 5 of Central Florida's ICE detainees so far this year were charged with felonies, ranging from 11.5% in Lake to 18.6% in Orange. Last week, Axios reported the Trump administration was pushing for ICE to bump its daily arrests to 3,000 per day, with a White House spokesperson saying 'keeping President Trump's promise to deport illegal aliens is something the administration takes seriously.' White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller confirmed the story on Fox News and said that was the minimum goal, and that it would only climb higher over time. The State Immigration Enforcement Council, made up of sheriffs and chiefs appointed by state leaders, voted last month on a resolution calling on the Trump administration to allow inmates to be housed in all county jail facilities, not just those with agreements like Orange has had for decades. The same resolution stated Florida was ready to set up a 10,000-bed facility to house migrants, if federal funding was issued. Polk Sheriff Grady Judd, who chairs the committee, said he had 200 beds at his jail that he could use. 'If our county jails under the Florida Model Jail Standards are good enough to house non-convicted US citizens, certainly it ought to be satisfactory to house illegal immigrants who are here with a deportation warrant,' Judd said. rygillespie@
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Fears Grow Over ICE's Reach Into Schools
School (in)Security is our biweekly briefing on the latest school safety news, vetted by Mark Keierleber. Subscribe here. Two developments this week have upped the anxiety over how far President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown will go to ensnare students and young children. In New York City, a Bronx high school student from Venezuela showed up for a routine immigration court date and was promptly arrested afterward by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Chalkbeat's Michael Elsen-Rooney, who broke the story Monday, reports that the arrest has sent shock waves through the 20-year-old's small, close-knit high school, which caters to older newcomers learning English. Meanwhile, ICE agents have been showing up unannounced at schools, homes and migrant shelters from New York to Hawaii to interview children, some as young as 6, who arrived in the U.S. alone, The New York Times reported yesterday. The Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is responsible for the children's care and has historically been kept separate from immigration activities, is now assisting in them, according to ProPublica. The Trump administration is calling these surprise visits 'welfare checks,' but educators, advocates and others see them as a means of accelerating deportations. Propelling Trump's deportation agenda has been a priority for Florida officials, from Gov. Ron DeSantis all the way down to the St. Petersburg school district police chief. An investigation I published last week revealed that the chief instructed officers to assist in the crackdown. The revelation, included in a batch of public records I obtained from Pinellas County Schools, came after district officials claimed that an application to deputize campus cops with Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest authority was a mistake. The records show efforts to cooperate with ICE run deeper than school officials have previously acknowledged — and that the district's top leaders were aware of it. Immigrant rights groups and privacy advocates have for years warned that school-based police officers could share information about undocumented students and their families with federal immigration officials, especially as Trump bolsters a program that grants ICE powers to local cops. More than 550 law enforcement agencies nationwide have what are known as 287(g) agreements with ICE, including at least one in every Florida county. Civil rights attorneys say the directives given to Pinellas school police — which include orders to detain and question anyone with federal deportation orders — could violate constitutional protections against unreasonable detention and children's legal right to a free public education regardless of their immigration status. Read my latest investigation here. School cybersecurity experts told me they were surprised by how quickly federal authorities arrested 19-year-old hacker and Massachusetts college student Matthew Lane. Lane pleaded guilty last week to carrying out a massive cyberattack on the deep-pocketed ed tech company PowerSchool, which gave into his ransom demand. They also criticized the company for its slower-than-previously-known response and public notice about the breach, which exposed the sensitive records of millions of students and educators. The Department of Justice alleges Lane and co-conspirators demanded a $2.85 million ransom in Bitcoin. He pleaded guilty to cyber extortion, unauthorized access to protected computers and aggravated identity theft. | BleepingComputer More than 100 school districts have filed lawsuits against PowerSchool alleging negligence and breach of contract. | K-12 Dive In just the last month, districts nationwide were the targets of extortion demands despite PowerSchool's decision to pay the ransom to prevent files from being shared publicly. | The 74 A prize nobody wanted: The education sector has come in first place … for being the slowest to report data breaches after ransomware attacks — averaging nearly five months. | Comparitech Kept in the dark: Meet the hired guns who make sure school cyberattacks stay hidden. | The 74 'Take it down': Trump has signed a new federal law that requires tech platforms remove non-consensual, sexually explicit deepfakes as teen girls nationwide are the victims of disturbing AI-generated images. | CNN Red Cloud Indian School, which operates on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, has filed a lawsuit seeking to halt the Trump administration's cuts to AmeriCorps. The suit charges the cuts would put job training programs and teaching assistants at 'serious risk' in one of the country's most impoverished regions. | South Dakota Searchlight Some seven years after the mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, the Broward County school district plans to cut about 100 security positions as part of an effort to slash its budget by $65 million. | South Florida SunSentinel On the list of alleged violations of students' civil rights that may never be investigated after Trump gutted the Education Department: The case of a substitute teacher who was arrested on battery charges after she was captured on video dragging a 6-year-old boy with autism down the hallway of his Illinois school. | ProPublica Picking up the slack: The National Center for Youth Law has launched an initiative to help the families of students whose civil rights complaints to the department are no longer being investigated. The nonprofit's 'fellowship program' will connect fired Office for Civil Rights attorneys with families to provide pro bono legal services. | The 74 A Minnesota school resource officer was accused of helping to cover up allegations that a former middle school teacher was sending sexually explicit images to a dozen male students over Snapchat. | WCCO'Nazi swastikas and things like that': A 33-year-old Texas mother was arrested on terrorism-related charges after police say she bought guns and tactical gear for her 13-year-old son as he allegedly planned a shooting at his middle school. Officials said they found 'some very disturbing' stuff in the mother's home. | Associated Press Get the most critical news and information about students' rights, safety and well-being delivered straight to your inbox. Trump Official's Autism Schools Secluded and Restrained Students at High Rates Head Start Teacher and Civil Rights Lawyer Turns Her Social Justice Lens to Math Heat, Floods, Storms Limit Outdoor Play for Young Children, Surveys Show Met a new friend, Elmer, spotted in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, while biking the 333 miles from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., this week. Nice guy!
