Mexican man is sentenced to 39 years in prison in Michigan for murder that became campaign issue

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Mexican citizen who is in the U.S. illegally was sentenced Thursday to 39 years in a Michigan prison for killing his girlfriend, a felony Suddenly there was a push entered the US presidential race because of the man's immigration status.

“The actions I took on the night of March 22 do not define who my people are. “I apologize with the utmost respect to all immigrants from all walks of life,” Brandon Ortiz Vite told a judge in Grand Rapids.

Ortiz Vite, 26, pleaded guilty to murder and other crimes in September.

Ruby Garcia was found shot to death on the side of the road in Grand Rapids.

She and Ortiz Vite were sitting in a car on U.S. 131 arguing about their relationship when he shot her in the head, removed her body from the car and drove away, investigators said.

Last spring, former President Donald Trump publicly accused the Biden administration of failing to keep Ortiz Vite out of the country after his deportation in 2020. However, it is unknown whether he returned to the US during the final year of the Trump administration or during the Biden administration.

AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of more than 115,000 voters across the country, found Trump supporters on Election Day focused primarily on immigration and inflation.

“You, sir, are a cold-blooded murderer,” Judge Mark Trusock told Ortiz Vite. “This is a premeditated crime and you pose a danger to society.”

Ortiz Vite suspected he had taken drugs that day.

“I can’t explain my thoughts that night,” he said. “But deep down I knew I was wrong.”