Twice-deported illegal alien charged with murdering two men in Tennessee

A twice-deported illegal alien from Honduras was charged with murder twice last week in Nashville, Tennessee.

Kevin Joel Castro-Garcia, 31, was first charged on Oct. 10 for the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Elmer Nahum Miranda-Martinez.

According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, the victim's body was discovered on Sept. 27 in the trunk of a car that had been torched and dumped in a forested area off Franklin Limestone Road. Police suggested the victim had been shot before being placed in the vehicle.

Castro-Garcia was charged with murder again Friday, this time in the slaying of a 26-year-old Nashville man.

Brandon Rivas-Noriega's mother reported him missing on Oct. 5, noting the family had received messages from him suggesting he was in trouble and needed money, according to police.

Rivas-Noriega had last been seen driving his mother's 2015 Ford Focus on Oct. 3.

Investigators, led by Detective Anthony Chandler, determined the victim had frequented a home at 4660 Fanning Drive, where they found his driver's license and the owner's manual for the Ford Focus. Investigators also found paperwork concerning a second property, located at 1395 Rural Hill Road.

The victim's car was found at the second property behind an abandoned trailer. His decomposing remains were discovered inside the trunk of the Ford Focus.

Police indicated that the victim was gunned down at the first location, then driven to the second location. Several tattoos had been sliced off Rivas-Noriega's body. Extra to murder, Castro-Garcia was charged with felony abuse of a corpse in this second case, which would suggest the tattoo removal was conducted posthumously.

Castro-Garcia was deported from the U.S. in 2010 and in 2018. He remains in custody on a $1.1 million bond. According to the Davidson County Sheriff's Office, he is listed as ineligible for release on account of an ICE detainer.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 6,101,633 illegal aliens stole across the southern border into U.S. between the time President Joe Biden took office in January 2021 and August 2023.

As of Sept. 22 this fiscal year, U.S. Border Patrol had already arrested 12,659 noncitizens with prior convictions for crimes committed in either the U.S. or abroad.

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