TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A man in the U.S. illegally is the focus of a tug of war between Pima County Attorney Laura Conover and Federal authorities. She wants to prosecute the man for murder but says the Feds took him into their custody and she can’t get him back.
It was late last month when Tucson Police say a man went through midtown pointing a gun at several people. Officers say Julio Aguirre finally shot and killed Ricky E. Miller, Senior while trying to steal his car.
A police dog helped bring Aguirre down. That put him in a hospital. While he was there Federal agents arrested him on their own charges and took him away to Federal custody.
The County Attorney’s office says Aguirre is an undocumented migrant who was arrested more than ten times from 2007 to 2013 for immigration related crimes. They say he was deported in 2013.
Conover says she needs to get her murder case underway because, she wants justice for the victims and because the surviving victims are in their late 70s and she has no idea how long any Federal charges can take.
She says, “These people have states rights. This isn't a request. This is, this is something we're going to have to duke out in federal court. I will not be giving up.”
The office of the US Attorney for Arizona responded with a statement. It says, in part:
“Our office has a significant federal interest in this matter. The press release from the Pima County Attorney mischaracterizes the situation. However, we have no intent to engage in an exchange with the County Attorney via the media.”
The Feds have charged Aguirre with carjacking, weapons charges and illegal entry to the US.
Federal sentencing guidelines say a carjacking that leads to death can lead to life in prison, or a death sentence, just as first degree murder can under Arizona law.
But Conover says Federal prosecutors don’t handle homicides very often, her prosecutors do, and she wants Federal prosecutors to stop slowing down her case.
