NEW ORLEANS — Monday a family privately said goodbye to their loved one. 43-year-old Kristie Thibodeaux was a tour guide who was sitting in her car when she was fatally shot. Three teens were arrested and now we're learning more about them.
According to the Office of Immigration, the 19-year-old involved — Joshua Bonifacio is an undocumented immigrant from Honduras. In a statement to WWL Louisiana, ICE said border patrol encountered Bonifacio on May 11, 2019 near Hidalgo, Texas and "determined him to be inadmissible into the U.S."
According to information we obtained, between then and now, he's been arrested at least three times.
After learning this information, Governor Jeff Landry tweeted "This man should have never been in Louisiana. Enough is enough. We must close our borders and keep our communities safe."
The case has sparked calls for a change to the ankle monitoring system after it was revealed that the 15-year-old, who allegedly pulled the trigger — was supposed to be monitored through supervised release.
State Representative Tim Kerner, recently passed legislation that holds ankle monitoring companies more accountable. It goes into effect in January as he says there's a dire need for better communication.
"You got people that offenders that are being put on ankle bracelets then no accountability after, I don't want to say it's no accountability anywhere but a lot of cases there's no accountability so I think that's cray and dangerous to the public," Kerner said.
We're working to get more information on how the juvenile monitoring system works and who is supposed to be monitoring it.
We've reached out to the DA Jason Williams Office, Attorney General Liz Murrill's Office, Juvenile Court and the Mayor's Office. They've all referred us to the Office of Juvenile Justice, which hasn't responded to our emails.
Bonifacio was arrested for second-degree murder. Prosecutors are expected to try and indict the 15-year-old for first-degree murder.
Attorney General Liz Murrill sent a statement on Wednesday saying, "If the Biden administration was enforcing the law, they should never have been in our country and Kristie Thibodeaux would be alive."
She also claimed that the other two suspects were also Honduran nationals. However, ICE has only confirmed to us that Bonifacio is an undocumented immigrant.
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