Feds say second suspect in killing of West Point man was also in the country illegally

SALT LAKE CITY — The second suspect in the seemingly random killing in May of a West Point man was also an immigrant who entered the United States illegally and is facing deportation, according to federal officials.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security earlier this week said Axel Eduardo Chavez Marroquin, the first suspect arrested in the killing of James Randell Witten, entered the country illegally in 2021 along the California-Mexico border. In response to a KSL query, the agency said the second suspect, Abner Aroldo Gomez-Avila, originally from Guatemala, also entered the country illegally — in 2019 along the Arizona-Mexico border.

"An immigration judge (gave) him a final order of removal on Dec. 9, 2022," the DHS said. Gomez-Avila was detained in California, and the Davis County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that he was still in the state awaiting extradition to Utah.

Witten, 71, a retired U.S. Air Force and Army veteran, was shot and killed outside his West Point home on May 30, and Chavez, 24, is charged in 2nd District Court in Farmington with murder in the matter. Chavez, who had been living in California, was arrested on June 16 in Las Vegas, though officials have not identified a potential motive in the alleged killing or said whether he and Witten knew each other.

Gomez-Avila — previously identified by authorities as Abner Aroldo Avila — was arrested on July 16 in California and is being investigated for murder in the case. As with Chavez, federal officials have issued an arrest detainer against him stemming from charges he faces of being a fugitive from justice, child abuse and shoplifting. With detainers, local law enforcement agencies may hold immigrants up to 48 hours beyond the time they would have otherwise been released to give federal officials time to take them into custody.

In a statement Monday on the Chavez case, the DHS said the agency had twice before issued detainers against Chavez in California stemming from other alleged criminal activity, but local authorities there didn't honor them, allowing him to leave jail.

"Sanctuary politicians do not cooperate with ICE. They choose to release criminal illegal aliens from jail into our communities. Their refusal to commit to turning these heinous monsters over to ICE law enforcement is putting American lives at risk," DHS said in releasing the information to KSL about Gomez-Avila.

Immigrants less likely to be jailed

As part of the federal government's crackdown on illegal immigration, President Donald Trump's administration has emphasized the migratory status of immigrants in the country illegally who are allegedly involved in violent crimes. Several DHS press releases issued in July alone zero in on immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally and suspected in violent crimes around the United States.

The Cato Institute, however, published a briefing paper last March countering the notion that being in the country illegally correlates to higher rates of criminal activity, similar to reports by other organizations over the years.

"People commonly assume that immigrants are more likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans, especially illegal immigrants. Tragic individual murders by immigrants seem to support this perception, and it affects the public debate over immigration policy," reads the Cato report. "However, this perception is not supported by the facts."

Immigrants, whether in the country legally or illegally, are less likely to be jailed or imprisoned than native-born Americans, according to the report. The incarceration rate of native-born Americans in 2024 measured 1,195 per 100,000 people. That compares to 303 per 100,000 people among immigrants in the country legally and 674 per 100,000 immigrants in the country illegally.

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