Sandy MaloneQueens, NY – Federal officials said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “sanctuary city” policy is to blame for the brutal murder of a 92-year-old woman at the hands of an illegal immigrant in Queens on Jan. 6.
“Clearly the politicians care more about criminal illegal aliens than the citizens they are elected to serve and protect,” U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement, The Washington Times reported.
Reeaz Khan, who is an illegal immigrant from Guyana, was arrested on Nov. 27, 2019 after he attacked his father in their South Richmond home, the New York Post reported.
Khan’s 41-year-old father had to be hospitalized after his son used a broken ceramic mug to slash his father’s arm and chest.
Court records showed that Khan was charged with misdemeanor assault, criminal possession of a weapon, and harassment, the New York Post reported.
The records also showed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents placed a detainer request on him the day he was arrested.
However, because of New York’s new bail laws and the mayor’s liberal policies, Khan was released without bail after the judge issued a temporary order of protection for his father, the New York Post reported.
Only six weeks passed before Khan allegedly sexually assaulted and strangled 92-year-old Maria Fuentes.
“It was a deadly choice to release a man on an active ICE detainer back onto the streets after his first arrest included assault and weapon charges, and he now faces new charges, including murder,” Thomas Decker, ICE’s New York field-office director of enforcement and removal operations, said.
“New York City’s sanctuary policies continue to threaten the safety of all residents of the five boroughs as they repeatedly protect criminal aliens who show little regard for the laws of this nation,” Decker added.
Court papers said the elderly woman was found lying in the freezing weather about two hours after she was attacked by Khan, the New York Post reported.
Fuentes died from injuries that included rib fractures and a broken spine at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
Investigators found surveillance video that showed the before and after of the attack and shared it with the public to identify Fuentes’ murderer, the New York Post reported.
Khan’s brother was one of multiple people who identified the suspect for police.
Assistant District Attorney Joseph Grasso said that after Khan was taken into custody, he told detectives that he had found his victim lying on the ground, the New York Post reported.
The 21 year old said he was trying to help Fuentes when he “fell down, his belt broke, his pants fell down and his penis fell near her vagina,” Grasso said.
“Defendant then stated that he did lift up her skirt and tried to put his penis inside of her,” the prosecutor added.
Khan was charged with two counts each of second-degree murder and first-degree sexual abuse, according to the New York Post.
“Maria Fuertes’ blood is on Mayor de Blasio’s hands,” a retired New York Police Department (NYPD) detective said.
He said “it was only a matter of time before this would happen” with the city’s polices regarding ICE detainers, the New York Post reported.
The mayor’s sanctuary policy only allows NYPD to turn over illegal immigrants to ICE if they’ve been convicted of “serious or violent felonies.”
NYPD released a statement that said they had never received the ICE detainer for Khan, the New York Post reported.
However, ICE Spokeswoman Rachael Yong Yow said the agency had a fax confirmation receipt that proved a detainer request had been sent to NYPD’s Queens Central Booking at 7:41 a.m. on Nov. 27.
A spokeswoman for de Blasio expressed the mayor’s sympathies and chastised President Donald Trump’s administration for “politicizing this tragedy,” the New York Post reported.