A Maryland mother, whose daughter was raped and murdered by an alleged MS-13 gang member, is suing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Health and Human Services (DHHS) for wrongful death and seeking $100. million dollars, according to local media.
Kayla Hamilton, a young woman with autism, was
raped and strangled
in a home in Aberdeen, Maryland, on July 27, 2022.
Tammy Nobles, mother of the murdered young woman, testified last Thursday before the Homeland Security Committee of the House of Representatives of Congress.
Tammy Nobles, mother of Kayla Hamilton, testifies in Congress on May 23, 2023.Getty Images
The murder suspect, whose identity was protected because he was a minor at the time of the crime, was indicted in early 2023 by a Maryland grand jury on 11 counts for the homicide, including first-degree murder, robbery and rape and He will be tried as an adult.
DNA samples collected at the crime scene led to the arrest of the suspect, a Salvadoran national.
According to an account of the events published by the conservative newspaper Washington Examiner, on the day she was murdered, Hamilton arrived home after working all night, just as her boyfriend was leaving to go to his house.
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Upon returning from work, the young woman's boyfriend
found her dead and called the police
.
According to authorities, Hamilton had been strangled with a cell phone charger cord.
The young woman had made a call to her boyfriend that went to voicemail, where the attack was supposedly recorded, the weekly indicated.
Following the arrest of the suspect, Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that the detainee was a member of the MS-13 gang and was in the country illegally.
The suspect had crossed illegally into the United States from Mexico in March 2022 and was detained by Border Patrol agents in the city of Rio Grande, Texas, Aberdeen police reported, cited by the Washington Examiner.
Local police in Aberdeen, Maryland, previously confirmed that the suspect had illegally crossed the US-Mexico border and was
detained by federal Border Patrol agents
in Rio Grande City, Texas, in March 2022.
Initial investigations revealed that the suspect had rented a room in a mobile home where Hamilton and her boyfriend had a room.
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In a message posted on the Facebook page, Brian Claypool, the Hamilton family's attorney, indicated that "the killer had a tattoo related to the MS-13 gang. DHS protocol asks agents to look for these tattoos," he told make the announcement of the demand.
"The killer had been arrested in El Salvador in 2020 for being associated with an illicit gang. All DHS had to do was one phone call to verify this and Kayla would be alive," he said.
The attorney said Health and Human Services allowed the suspect to stay with an "unverified" sponsor, who he said was not a family member, according to an ABC Baltimore report.
"DHHS recklessly allowed the killer to stay with an 'unverified' sponsor who was not a family member," according to Claypool, quoted by the local station.
"After a month, he fled and rented a room in a mobile home where Kayla and her boyfriend were."
In a statement about the case, DHS said "our hearts go out to Ms. Hamilton's family. We do not comment on pending litigation. The men and women of DHS take their responsibility to secure our country very seriously."
For its part, DHHS indicated in the case that it was deeply saddened by the tragic loss, and that it would not comment on possible litigation.
The young woman's mother indicated in an interview with the Washington Examiner last year that "everyone should know how [the suspect] got here. Everyone involved that led to his death [...] should be held responsible." ".
"
She was just a happy girl who wanted to live life
, and they took her away. She didn't do anything. She had two jobs. She was trying to understand life being autistic," she added.
Nobles previously testified before the House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement in May 2023.