An illegal immigrant from Haiti is accused of chasing his coworker with a knife before fatally stabbing him at a meat processing plant in Coldwater, Michigan.
Haitian national Valmir Djempsley, 20, and Brandon Eduardo Velasquez Chavez, 21, were arguing while on the job together at Clemens Food Group on June 30 when the illegal immigrant ran after Chavez with a knife, News Channel 3 reported, citing witness accounts. Prosecutors say Djempsley stabbed Chavez in the back, killing him at the scene.
Djempsley told investigators Chavez had been using his assigned knife and attempted to head-butt him while returning it. Police said no witnesses corroborated that account.
“From what I know right now, the knives are identified by the employees. They are given numbers, and they’re given to employees by that, and there was a dispute over a knife,” Coldwater Public Safety Director Joe Scheid told News Channel 3.
Djempsley entered the country illegally in Texas in 2024 and was released into the United States under the Biden administration, according to the Department of Homeland Security. News Channel 3 reported that Djempsley had authorization to work in the United States.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has since lodged a detainer requesting that local authorities transfer Djempsley into federal custody for deportation.
“This illegal alien barbarically stabbed his coworker to death,” Acting Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement Wednesday. “This murderer was released into American communities by the Biden Administration.”
“If it weren’t for the reckless open border policies of the Biden Administration, this criminal never would have been in our country in the first place and his victim would still be alive. We have lodged a detainer asking Michigan to not release this dangerous criminal from jail without notifying ICE,” Bis added.
Djempsley pleaded not guilty to his open murder charge, broke down in tears during his arraignment, and was denied bond, according to News Channel 3.
Branch County Prosecutor Victor Fitz told News Channel 3 that his office will seek the maximum sentence if Djempsley is convicted.
“If he’s found guilty, then we would expect there would be a sentence and we would be really demanding that that full sentence be served, whatever that might be,” Fitz said. “After that, deportation is pursued.”
“This is the most serious violation known to humankind,” he said. “He was supposed to be on his best behavior, but instead, he spilled the lifeblood of another human being.”
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