CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A man from Mexico is accused of murder and aggravated assault in Clayton County after being deported twice previously.
Salvador Rodriguez Mendoza is accused of escalating a fistfight into a violent crime by shooting one man in the torso and another twice in the head and once in the leg.
The incident resulted in the death of Lorenzo Jimenez and injuries to Hernan Sanchez.
“The men and women in law enforcement work hard daily to do their jobs, and they removed him once and then they removed him again,” Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen told Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne. “And now, unfortunately, someone had to lose their life about it, and that’s unacceptable.”
Allen expressed shock upon discovering that Rodriguez should not have been in Clayton County or even in the U.S. when the crimes occurred.
Rodriguez was captured by a U.S. Marshals-led task force in Chattanooga, with assistance from an HSI violent gang unit and Clayton County deputies.
Homeland Security Investigations spokesperson Lindsay Williams confirmed that Rodriguez had been deported twice in 2018 and managed to re-enter the United States illegally.
“It happens more frequently than you think,” Williams noted.
Allen emphasized that the crimes allegedly committed by Rodriguez do not represent most immigrants in the country illegally, stating that serious crimes by this group are rare in Clayton County, but even one is too many.
Rodriguez is currently held without bond in Clayton County Jail, and the investigation continues as authorities address the implications of his repeated illegal re-entry into the United States.
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