David Mora, 39 years old, was carrying a semiautomatic rifle-style weapon, often known as a ghost gun. According to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, he had an illegal 30-round ammunition cartridge and 17 bullets.
Mora was placed under a restraining orders that prohibited him from owning a firearm. Authorities don’t know when or how he acquired it.
“The only person who has the answers to these questions is dead.” “I think I can safely state that he obtained it illegally,” said Sgt. Rodney Grassmann stated.
Investigators found that Mora was living in the Sacramento church where the murders took place since April 2021 when he was released from involuntary mental hospital hold. He had threatened to harm his girlfriend and himself, according to investigators.
Monday’s violence broke out during a weekly supervised visiting Mora held with his daughters, aged 13, 10 and 9. Investigators have not revealed the motive. Mora was released on bail five days after she had been arrested on charges of resisting arrest and battery on a officer, driving under the influence, and battery.
Alethea Smock, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Associated Press Mora was illegally in the country. After he entered California on December 17, 2018, from Mexico, he overstayed his visa.
She did not say when his visa expired. However, ICE requested to know when he was released from prison after he was taken into custody in Merced County by the California Highway Patrol officer for assaulting him.
According to the Merced County Sheriff’s Office, California’s sanctuary state law does not require that it notify immigration officials of in-custody persons who are being released. ICE was never notified. The 2017 state legislation limits local law enforcement’s cooperation to federal officials, except for those who are charged with very serious crimes.
In a statement, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones stated that “this unspeakable tragedy highlights how sanctuary policies prevent law enforcement from protecting its citizenry.”
Jones had previously accused the U.S. immigration policies of former Democratic President Barack Obama of the murders in 2014 of two Northern California deputy deputies by a man who was illegally in the country. In 2018, former President Donald Trump made the accusation.
Jones was unsuccessful as a Republican candidate in Congress in 2016, and is now running again for Congress.
Grisel Ruiz is the supervising attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resources Center. He said that gun control and domestic violence seem to be the main issues in these killings, while the status of immigrants was irrelevant.
She said that tragic incidents have been politicized in the past. This has led to misguided policies targeting immigrant survivors, making it more difficult for them to get the help they need.
Mora’s ex girlfriend, who was also the mother of the girls, obtained a five year restraining order that allowed weekly visits. According to the order, he threatened to kill Mora and scared their daughters before threatening to kill them all. He also said that he would kill herself.
Mora responded to the court order by stating that he didn’t own guns. Mora’s ex-girlfriend said that she wasn’t aware he had firearms.
It is unclear whether Mora, also known by David Fidel Mora Rojas was in serious danger of being deported, despite the interest shown by immigration officials after his arrest. Although ICE requested to be notified about Mora’s release after he was released on bail, no additional steps were taken by immigration officials to deport him.
Democratic President Joe Biden made it clear that immigration officials prioritize deportation of people they consider to be threats to national security, or those who have recently crossed the border. This is a departure from Trump’s policy of seeking anyone illegally in the country for deportation.
