Two teens arrested last week on charges stemming from a horrific murder in Maryland were supposed to be deported last year, but Prince George’s police refused to turn them over to ICE, the immigration agency said Tuesday.
Authorities say the teens, Josue Rafael Fuentes-Ponce, 16, and Joel Ernesto Escobar, 17, feared being ratted out for an April robbery so they and an accomplice made a 14-year-old suspected snitch strip, then beat her with a baseball bat and chopped her with a machete.
The girl’s body was found in a creek earlier this month.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in a pointed statement Tuesday, said the crime could have been averted but for Prince George’s County’s sanctuary city policy.
Both Josue and Joel were in county custody last year on attempted murder charges from another crime, ICE said.