CHARLOTTE — Channel 9 has learned one of the two suspects accused in a deadly shooting spree in Charlotte was ordered to be removed from the U.S. by an immigration judge in 2022, according to records.
[ PAST COVERAGE: Suspect in random shooting spree was in U.S. illegally, sources say ]
Carlos Roberto-Diaz, 18, was one of two people arrested after police say he and a juvenile left a party the morning of July 9th and drove around shooting people at random.
The five shootings happened in a span of 30 minutes, according to detectives with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.
The shooting scenes spanned from the Beatties Ford Road corridor, Statesville Avenue, and Nations Ford Road.
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Investigators say Roberto-Diaz and his 16-year-old accomplice are responsible for the shooting death of Mustaffa Muhammad, whose family said he was driving home from work when he was shot and killed.
Sources told Channel 9′s crime reporter Hunter Sáenz that Roberto-Diaz was in the country illegally from Honduras and he and his father were intercepted at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019.
Roberto-Diaz was 14 years old at the time and he and his father were released and allowed into the U.S. likely because of a lack of bedspace at the time and knowing his father was traveling with a minor, per sources.
“In 2019, the border was saturated,” said Jamilah Espinosa, an immigration attorney in Charlotte.
She pointed out that year the border was overwhelmed and not everyone who came across the border was processed the same way due to the influx. For instance, not everyone was immediately given a court date, she said.
“They would let you enter the United States and then you would eventually be sent a notification from the court that you have court,” Espinosa explained.
It’s not clear when Roberto-Diaz made his way to Charlotte but in September of 2022, he was due in Immigration Court in the Queen City.
At the hearing, an immigration judge ruled Roberto-Diaz to be removed from the U.S., according to records at the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
It’s unclear if Roberto-Diaz was in attendance at the hearing.
Roberto-Diaz was never deported. Espinosa said that could be due to several different reasons.
She said Roberto-Diaz may have never received a notice of the hearing.
“People move from the initial address given to border patrol and never get the court notice,” she said, noting it a court date oftentimes takes years.
A second scenario is Roberto-Diaz may have attended the hearing, was told he was going to be removed, but it wasn’t a priority for ICE to deport him.
Espinosa said in Immigration Court, undocumented immigrants are not immediately taken into custody by ICE.
“When a judge orders an individual removed, it doesn’t work like it does in the criminal court,” she said. “They’re going to continue to live their lives in the shadows.”
Espinosa explained that ICE would not go out looking for Roberto-Diaz unless he was a priority to them because of a criminal history or previous arrests.
Channel 9 is not aware of any previous criminal record for Roberto-Diaz that would have made him a priority for ICE.
“Outside of those priorities, because of our limited resources in the federal government (specifically ICE), they cannot go after every single person that is ordered removed,” Espinosa said. “It’s impossible.”
The third scenario is that Roberto-Diaz never showed up to his hearing.
“The most likely scenario is he just didn’t go to court,” Espinosa said.
Roughly two years after the immigration hearing and judge’s decision, Roberto-Diaz was arrested after the shooting spree in Charlotte.
“We need immigration reform that’s comprehensive,” Espinosa said.
She didn’t go as far as calling this situation a failure in policy but says it’s another example of why leaders on both sides of the political aisle should act on immigration reform.
“Many people confuse immigration reform with open borders -- everyone gets to come in. No, we want them to at least make the legal process easier,” she said.
Roberto-Diaz is expected back in court July 31.
The identity and other information about the juvenile who was arrested in the case is protected by North Carolina state law.
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