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Related Story: Three Black teens arrested for gunshot murder of New Orleans tour guide
New Orleans, Louisiana – One of the three Black teens charged for the gunshot murder of a beloved New Orleans tour guide was an illegal immigrant, authorities revealed on Wednesday.
According to reports, 19-year-old Joshua Aviala-Bonifacio, a Honduran national, is alleged to have entered the country illegally on an unknown date and time, according to the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The agency reported that officers with the US Border Patrol had previously encountered Aviala-Bonifacio in Texas in May 2019 and classified him as inadmissible to the United States.
ICE provided a detailed timeline of Aviala-Bonifacio’s interactions with law enforcement since his entry into the country. On May 14, 2019, the Black teen was released by U.S. Border Patrol on an “order of recognizance.” He was then said to have faced multiple arrests in Louisiana, including charges of theft and contributing to the delinquency of juveniles ever since, using the name “Joshua Avila” as cover.
Things turned bloody when Aviala-Bonifacio, along with 17-year-old Jerben Albarec and an unidentified 15-year-old, was arrested by the New Orleans Police Department Violent Crime Task Force for murder.
The three Black teens now face charges of second-degree murder and attempted armed robbery with a firearm in connection with the death of White 43-year-old Kristie Gioe Thibodaux, a local tour guide who police say was shot in her car.
Updates from the case had only fanned the flames of outrage when, on Wednesday, it was revealed that the unidentified 15-year-old had already been under GPS monitoring for a different crime. In response, New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams and State Attorney General Liz Murrill both called for systemic changes.
“This is a major problem,” stated Williams. “A young defendant under court supervision and electronic monitoring should not have been able to roam freely about the city at any hour without some form of court action or notice to law enforcement.”
Murrill echoed the sentiments, adding, “Where are the parents of these boys? They need to be held accountable too. While I am working to help keep New Orleans safe, this is just another prime example of the dysfunction we are dealing with.”
In the meantime, ICE placed Aviala-Bonifacio into custody at the Orleans Parish Justice Center. Authorities are also said to have begun an investigation into the company producing GPS ankle monitors for New Orleans and find out why the 15-year-old shooter had been running free with a deactivated device.
🚨BREAKING: I have ordered the Louisiana Department of Justice to open an investigation into the ankle monitoring contracts with the Juvenile Court system in New Orleans. What happened to Kristie Thibodeaux should have never happened. pic.twitter.com/MmGQ9756wq
— Attorney General Liz Murrill (@AGLizMurrill) July 9, 2024
“What happened to Kristie Thibodeaux was a tragedy and it never should have happened. I have opened an investigation by my Criminal Division into the contracting with the monitoring company to get to the bottom about why this individual was out on the street with a deactivated ankle monitor,” said Murrill in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter.
“The matter underscores how the closed and opaque nature of the juvenile system does a disservice to our community,” said Williams. “We have repeatedly sounded the alarm on the deplorable state of the electronic monitoring program and the lack of communication with impacted agencies when breakdowns occur in the juvenile system.”
On June 30th, Kristie Thibodaux was murdered as she sat in her car in New Orleans vibrant French Quarter. A beloved tour guide, police assert that the three Black teens had charged the youngest of the group to approach Thibodaux. When the White victim attempted to get away, police say the teenager opened fire, shooting her once in the shoulder, and ultimately killed her.
During interrogation, Aviala-Bonifacio had identified the 15-year-old as the sole trigger man, with surveillance camera footage revealing he had been wearing a dark hoodie and mask. The group could then be seen using a Black Chevy Camaro to flee the area, where they would eventually brag about the killing on social media, police said.
In life, Thibodaux was remembered as a beloved fixture of the New Orleans tourism community. She conducted historical walks through the French Quarter and connected visitors to the sights and sounds of one of America’s most iconic cities. On the 6th, a memorial walk was conducted to honor Thibodaux, aimed at retracing the steps she took through the city on one of her many tours.
At the time of press, a GoFundMe set up to assist the family has raised only $3,465.
In the United States, White women have increasingly become the victims of illegal immigrants, migrants, and so-called “asylum seekers” who have crossed the southern border with impunity in recent years.
In July of 2022, police say 20-year-old Kayla Hamilton, from Maryland, was brutally raped and strangled to death by a 17-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador. Police allege that the suspect had entered the United States as an “unaccompanied minor” and was a card-carrying member of the infamous MS-13, a violent transnational gang now said to be thriving in the United States.
The death of Hamilton was followed by the brutal rape and murder of 37-year-old Rachel H. Morin in 2023. Morin’s story made headlines after the young mother of five was found naked and beaten to a pulp on a nature trail. Her suspected killer, 23-year-old Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, was an illegal from El Salvador who was arrested one year later in Oklahoma.
In February of this year, 22-year-old Laken Riley—a nursing student at Georgia’s Augusta University, was bludgeoned and strangled to death while out for a jog at Oconee Forest Park. For the crime, police arrested 26-year-old JosĂ© Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who had entered the United States illegally.
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