Mass shooting suspects deported before charged
CHICAGO (WGN) — Should a suspect in a mass shooting be deported before there’s even a chance to prosecute and punish him? That’s precisely what happened to Ricardo Granadillo Padilla.
Homeland Security first announced Granadillo Padilla’s arrest in February and labeled him “a suspected member of the Tren de Aragua gang and a suspect in a mass shooting in Chicago.”
Then, in May, DHS followed up by saying it had also arrested “another suspected shooter,” Edward Martinez Cermeno. The press releases included pictures of the men, guns and drugs.
The agency connected both men to a December 2024 mass shooting in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood that killed three people and injured five others.
A Chicago police source confirmed to WGN Investigates both men were viewed as suspects by detectives investigating the case.
However, local law enforcement was surprised to see DHS accuse the men of crimes they had not yet been charged with, a move that could have complicated criminal prosecution.
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Now both men have disappeared from ICE’s online inmate locator system. It was only through a court filing — first reported by CWB — that we learned Granadillo Padilla was deported to Venezuela in September.
A gun and ammunition allegedly found with him “did not link to any known crime,” according to a declaration made by a Homeland Security investigator who said Granadillo Padilla was removed from the country by air to Caracas, Venezuela. His current whereabouts are unknown.
Chicago police and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office wouldn’t say whether Homeland Security allowed their investigators to interview the men while they were in federal custody.
“They would’ve been thrilled to work with the feds on a case like this and there wouldn’t have been any violations of sanctuary state or other protection policies,” said former Chicago chief of detectives Eugene Roy. “It could’ve been done and should’ve been done.”
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A former federal immigration judge told WGN Investigates the rush to boost deportation numbers has led to situations like this one.
“If they had been indicted, found guilty or pled — or gone before a jury — we have seen it 100 percent where they do serve their criminal time before they’re handed over,” said Jennifer Peyton, who now practices law with Kriezelman Burton and Associations. “In these circumstances where they’re caught beforehand, we’ve seen where they are just shipped out with these pending cases.”
Homeland Security did not respond to nearly a half-dozen requests for comment or information about the case in recent weeks.
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