An illegal immigrant from Mexico was arrested and charged with murder earlier this week after 25-year-old Ruby Garcia from Grand Rapids, Michigan, was found dead Friday on the side of a road from apparent gunshot wounds.
Garcia’s sister, Mavi, spoke to The Midwesterner about the murder, saying her sister was “a great person all around.” Mavi Garcia also said in a social media post that the suspect, Brandon Ortiz-Vite, also 25, is from Durango and Puebla, Mexico. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed in a statement to The Daily Wire that Ortiz-Vite re-entered the U.S. unlawfully “at an unknown date” after he was deported in September 2020.
“Brandon Ortiz-Vite, a 25-year-old citizen of Mexico, was arrested by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Detroit on Aug. 31, 2020, and served a notice to appear. He was ordered removed by an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) Sept. 24, 2020, and was removed to Mexico Sept. 29, 2020,” an ICE spokesman told The Daily Wire. “At an unknown date and location Ortiz-Vite reentered the United States without inspection by an immigration official.”
“On Mar. 24, 2024, ERO Detroit encountered Ortiz-Vite pursuant to him being arrested by the Michigan State Police and charged with murder and other crimes,” the statement added. “He is currently being held in the Kent County Jail in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ERO Detroit lodged a detainer with the Kent County Jail for Ortiz-Vite.”
Ortiz-Vite is also charged with carjacking, illegally carrying a concealed weapon, operating while intoxicated, and driving on a suspended or revoked license, The Midwesterner reported. It was not clear if he had a connection to the 25-year-old victim. Ortiz-Vite was booked in the Kent County, Michigan, jail on March 24 and is expected to be arraigned either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Mavi Garcia said her sister “would brighten up the room with her beautiful smile and laugh.”
“She loved to travel, was dedicated to her work and enjoyed being with her family on her free time,” she added.
The illegal immigrant’s arrest on a murder charge comes after the state, led by Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, asked for volunteers to step up and prepare housing for migrants admitted into the U.S. as part of the Biden administration’s CHNV program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.
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Earlier this month, a 26-year-old Haitian migrant who was part of the CHNV program was arrested and accused of raping a 15-year-old disabled girl in Massachusetts. He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Garcia’s death comes weeks after a Venezeualan illegal immigrant allegedly killed Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.