Five people are facing murder charges in connection with a shooting that left a 2-year-old boy dead in Langley Park, Maryland, this month. One of those suspects, and his immigration status, has inspired a new standard practice for how police communicate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Charging documents say 25-year-old Nilson Granados-Trejo was in the back seat of the car where the shots that killed a toddler came from, but he never pulled the trigger.
It turns out, ICE had requested Granados-Trejo be held for deportation proceedings twice last year, but he was released from Montgomery County custody both times.
Wednesday, County Executive Marc Elrich and other Montgomery County officials said they had met with Darius Reeves, director of ICE removal operations at the Baltimore field office, to hammer out instances in which the county will cooperate with the federal immigration agency.
Now, Montgomery County officials have agreed to double the notification time they will provide to ICE before a defendant is released.
Granados-Trejo, of no fixed address, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder in the death of Jeremy Poou-Caceres. The boy’s 17-year-old mother was also hit by stray gunfire but survived.
“First of all, we’re not a sanctuary county,” Elrich told reporters during an online briefing.
Elrich told ICE that Granados-Trejo had been previously arrested on theft charges and released, since theft doesn’t meet the county’s two-page list of crimes for which they enforce ICE detainers.
“Anything violent, anything related to sex offenses, child abuse, use of a gun or any weapon,” Elrich said, ticking off crimes in which the county would honor an ICE detainer request.
Elrich said the county has previously worked to minimize risk of injury when a defendant is released into ICE custody.
“Anybody we considered to be vaguely dangerous, who might have dangerous friends, we arranged for the transfer inside the building,” he said.
Earl Stoddard, an assistant chief administrative officer for the county, told reporters that they have “been giving about 24 hours notice to ICE for notifications,” of a defendant’s release.
“They asked that be extended to 48 hours,” Stoddard said.
In addition, Elrich said he provided ICE with a list of people currently in custody with detainers for crimes involving violence.
“We read the list of people, and we reassured them that every single one of these people, we will work with them on,” Elrich said. “They have the opportunity to show up and take these people into custody when they’re eventually released. All of them were involved in violence, every single one of those folks.”
Elrich said ICE’s Reeves had emphasized he was interested in violent crimes: “In fact, he said, ‘I’m not interested in deporting somebody who maybe took something from the bodega in their neighborhood,'” recalled Elrich.
Four others have been charged in the case: a 15-year-old boy from Takoma Park, a 16-year-old boy from Hyattsville, plus 28-year-old Johnny Alejandro Turcios and 33-year-old Israel Fuentes, Jr., both of Lewisdale.
All four face murder charges. Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy has indicated the case may be connected to gang activity.
Granados-Trejo is being held in Prince George’s County without bond.
WTOP’s Thomas Robertson contributed to this report.
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