Venezuelan illegal immigrant charged with attempting to drown woman at Florida beach

A Venezuelan illegal immigrant has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly attempting to drown a woman at a Florida beach in early February. 

According to the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, the victim said that she had been walking on Tiger Shore Beach in the late hours of February 12 when an attacker struck her from behind, pushed her into the water, and attempted to drown her. She lost consciousness during the attack. 

The suspect, later identified as 26-year-old Said Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez, grabbed for the woman’s cell phone, threw it into the ocean, and walked away, believing she was dead. When the woman regained consciousness, she walked more than a mile to Stuart Beach and found a sheriff’s deputy.

After a multi-day investigation, authorities in Port St Lucie contacted the Marin County Sheriff’s Office after an individual who was suicidal claimed to have murdered a woman on a Martin County beach.

Authorities spoke with the man and determined that he was the attacker. He said he had been at the beach and saw the woman alone. The office said, "He made statements indicating she made him angry, so he attacked her and drowned her. He stopped when he believed she was dead. He then went to his vehicle, smoked marijuana, drank vodka, and left the scene. When asked if he was remorseful, Hernandez Gonzalez stated he felt nothing."

In the days following his arrest, the Department of Homeland Security announced that ICE had lodged an immigration detainer against Hernandez Gonzalez. "Thankfully, because of Florida’s cooperation with ICE, this criminal will never walk free again on American soil, and he will be safely transferred into immigration proceedings," DHS said. 

DHS said that Hernandez Gonzalez entered the country illegally in 2023 under the Biden administration and was paroled into the country, being granted Temporary Protected Status. 

Then-Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, "Said Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez—a product of the Biden administration’s open-border policies—brutally attacked a woman on the beach and attempted to drown and kill her. She bravely fought back and survived this wicked attack. ICE has lodged an immigration detainer with the Martin County Sheriff’s office, and because of Florida’s cooperation with ICE, this sicko will never walk American streets again. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S."