An illegal alien from Mexico was on the loose days after being arrested on felony charges and released in the sanctuary state of California when he went on to kill his own son by leaving him in an overheated car for hours, according to authorities.
On May 10, Briant Reyes Estrada brought his 6-year-old son to Twin Cities Hospital in Templeton.
The child was pronounced deceased after suffering “life-threatening injuries, possibly heat related,” according to the Paso Robles Police Department (PRPD).
Investigators believe Reyes Estrada, 27, had left his son inside a locked vehicle outside a hotel where he worked for “several hours” as temperatures reached nearly 100 degrees.
Reyes Estrada was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and willful harm/injury to child, likely to produce great bodily injury.
Just two weeks prior to the tragedy, Reyes Estrada was arrested and booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail on a variety of charges, including false impersonation, falsifying a driver’s license, and embezzlement related to the credit card purchases.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a detainer request for the Mexican, but deputies released him in compliance with California sanctuary laws protecting illegal aliens.
“Had Mr. ReyesEstrada been properly detained, he would not have been free and able to do what he is alleged to have done to his child on May 10th. This child’s death would very likely not have happened,” San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow wrote in a statement on social media last week.
Incredibly, Reyes Estrada reportedly had a history of leaving the boy in his car while working and Child Protective Services had been notified on multiple occasions.
“Supposedly, he didn’t have a babysitter and he needed to work, so he left his kid in the car while he worked,” a former supervisor told the San Luis Obispo Tribune.
Reyes Estrada pleaded not guilty to charges related to his son’s death during an initial court appearance.
He has since been hit with federal fraud charges for “falsely claiming that he had the right to work in the US, and using a Social Security number belonging to someone else. He was also allegedly using a lawful permanent resident card belonging to someone else, a Salvadoran national,” Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported on Thursday, citing U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli.
An investigation is ongoing.