"Where you from?"
An illegal alien from Mexico, Pedro Espinoza, allegedly asked that of Jamiel Shaw Jr., 17 -- before Espinoza shot and killed him.
Shaw, a promising high-school student athlete wooed by Stanford and Rutgers, was gunned down at 8:40 p.m. just three doors from his Los Angeles home, where his father, Jamiel Shaw Sr., awaited his arrival from the mall. Shaw's mother, Anita, learned the news of her son's March 2 shooting death while serving as an Army sergeant in Iraq.
Edwin Ramos, an illegal alien from El Salvador, on June 22 allegedly gunned down and killed Tony Bologna and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16. The Bologna family, coming back from a barbecue in their SUV, apparently blocked Ramos' car in a San Francisco intersection. According to reports, after the Bologna vehicle backed up and let the Ramos car pass by, Ramos allegedly opened fire on the family.
The common factor in these killings, as with so many others: The alleged killers came to the country illegally. Federal officials estimate that 40,000 of the 170,000 inmates held in Los Angeles County jails each year are illegal immigrants. And in the cases of Espinoza and Ramos, the police had previously arrested each and -- for reasons that remain unclear -- the authorities either never referred the arrested alien to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation or ICE failed to institute deportation proceedings.
Before Shaw's murder, Espinoza had been arrested by Culver City police and served time in a Los Angeles County jail for assault with a deadly weapon. Jamiel Shaw was killed the day after Espinoza's release from jail.
Five years ago, 17-year-old Ramos was convicted and sent to a juvenile shelter for severely beating a suspected rival gang member. After serving a few months, Ramos was released to his mother for probation. Four days after that, he attempted to mug a pregnant woman. Ramos was convicted of attempted robbery and sent to a juvenile camp.
After Ramos turned 18, federal authorities learned of his illegal status when he applied -- and was rejected -- for legal residency. The illegal alien then married a U.S. citizen and applied for permanent residency -- the case still pending when the Bolognas were killed.
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