Illegal immigrant charged with murder in deadly NC shooting spree was ordered to be deported in 2022

Carlos Roberto-Diaz, 18, was one of two suspects arrested after the shooting. Police say that he and a 16-year-old were driving in a car on July 9 after a party and began shooting at people at random, per WSOC-TV.

The five shootings took place in a span of 30 minutes, according to authorities at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department. Roberto-Diaz has been charged with first-degree murder, felony conspiracy to commit murder, assault with a deadly weapon, five counts of attempted murder, and two counts each of shooting into an occupied vehicle and a dwelling.

WSOC-TV said that investigators reported the two were responsible for the shooting death of Mustaffa Muhammad, who had been driving back home from work when he was fatally shot. At least two others were injured in the shootings.

Sources familiar with the matter told reporters that Roberto-Diaz was in the country illegally from Honduras and had been caught crossing the border illegally in 2019. Roberto-Diaz was later due in immigration court in September 2022. However, it is unclear if he ever showed up. He was never deported afterward.

Jamilah Espinosa, an immigration authority in North Carolina told reporters that a couple of scenarios could have happened. One in which the court notice was never seen by Roberto-Diaz, or ignored. The other, Espinoza said, could have been a low priority for ICE officials. “When a judge orders an individual removed, it doesn’t work like it does in the criminal court,” she added. “They’re going to continue to live their lives in the shadows.”

Espinoza said that ICE likely would not have gone looking for the 18-year-old now-suspect at the time unless he was a higher priority and had a criminal history prior to the recent shooting. “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.”