The family of Kayla Hamilton (a 20-year-old woman with autism who was raped and strangled to death by an illegal immigrant, a 17-year-old Salvadoran citizen), has filed a suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), for $100 million in damages due to "operational negligence" during the homicide investigation process and for allowing the defendant to cross the border:
We filed this historic lawsuit in Kayla's honor to get answers about how this catastrophic failure occurred and to help prevent another senseless murder.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement was slow to confirm that the killer (in addition to residing illegally in the nation) was a member of a criminal gang called MS-13. The family's attorney, Brian Claypool, stated:
The killer had a tattoo related to the MS-13 gang. DHS protocol requires agents to look for these tattoos. The murderer had been arrested in El Salvador in 2020 for being associated with an illicit gang. All DHS had to do was make one phone call to verify this and Kayla would be alive.
The family demands answers
The Hamilton family is demanding answers about why a Salvadoran teenage criminal was allowed to enter the country and how he was allowed to reside illegally.
The lawyer also assured that - according to his investigations - the DHHS agreed to let the murderer stay with a "sponsor" who was not verified (they had no family ties). Likewise, he was given accommodation in a "group foster home":
DHHS recklessly allowed the killer to stay with an 'unverified' sponsor who was not a family member. After a month, he escaped and ended up renting a room in a mobile home with Kayla and her boyfriend.
According to Claypool, DHHS also refused to produce an audit report regarding Hamilton's murder (this was requested by a House committee that investigated the homicide).
