EXCLUSIVE: 3-Time Deported Migrant Arrested in Houston Homicide Case

Police in Navasota, Texas, reportedly arrested a previously deported illegal immigrant on charges connected to a Houston homicide case. Immigration officials deported the Mexican national on at least three separate occasions.

Editor’s Note: Both the ATF (BATFE) and ICE issued corrections on this matter after they mistakenly identified recent freeway shootings as the crimes allegedly committed by this individual rather than the alleged crime described in this article. This article has been updated to reflect their corrections to their official statements.

The Navasota Police Department and special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) arrested Erick Diaz-Aranda, a 29-year-old Mexican national on Friday night, federal officials told Breitbart Texas on Saturday. The arrest is reportedly in connection with a homicide that occurred in Houston.

Details about the homicide are not yet available from Houston Police Department officials.

On Friday night, police officers in Grimes County, with the assistance of ATF agents, arrested Diaz-Aranda on charges related to a Houston homicide, according to ATF Special Agent Nicole Strong, public information officer.

Court records obtained from Harris County (Houston) by Breitbart Texas revealed Diaz-Aranda has a criminal history that includes at least one felony conviction and one misdemeanor conviction. The suspect’s criminal history goes back to 2007.

Immigration officers placed an immigration detainer on Diaz-Aranda with the Grimes County sheriff’s office on Saturday, Breitbart Texas learned. His immigration history includes at least three previous deportations. The deportations occurred on August 2008, July 2009, and September 2009, a federal law enforcement official stated.

Murder Charges are expected to be filed in connection to Diaz-Aranda’s role in the alleged Houston homicide. He could also face federal charges for illegal re-entry after removal.

“Depending on an alien’s criminality, an alien who re-enters the U.S. after having been previously deported commits a felony punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, if convicted, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official previously told Breitbart Texas. “By placing the immigration detainer, ICE seeks to take custody of aliens if they are released from local custody for any reason (e.g., post bond, charges dropped or released on their own recognizance).”

Diaz-Aranda is reported to be in the custody of the Grimes County Sheriff’s Office pending transfer to Houston.

Breitbart Texas reached out to the Houston Police Department for additional information on the suspect and the case. An immediate response was not available.