The suspected murderer of a 15-year-old boy is an illegal immigrant

CARMEL — The man accused of fatally shooting a 15-year-old Somers High School student and seriously wounding his mother and brother this week before being captured in Putnam Valley was in the United States illegally .

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Thursday that Fernando Jiminez was deported 20 years ago after he was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border in California.

ICE said Jiminez was taken into custody on August 11, 2004.

He was also arrested for drunk driving in the city of Yonkers in September 2018.

An ICE spokesman said an immigration detainee was housed in the Westchester County Jail.

Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne described Jiminez as a “monster.”

This is one of the reasons why Putnam County is a law enforcement county and not a sanctuary county. For this reason, we cooperate with federal immigration and law enforcement agencies. If we had a secure southern border and authorities were aware of this person's criminal past, perhaps this terrible tragedy would have happened

could have been avoided.”

Late Monday evening, 911 calls sent state police to the scene along with Carmel police and Putnam County Sheriff's Office personnel as the incident occurred less than a half-mile from the Putnam-Westchester border at Crossroads Plaza.

Police found the victims, identified by authorities as Michael Raimondi, who was fatally wounded, and Michael's brother Matthew, a 13-year-old middle school student. Her mother, 38-year-old Christina, was also shot and critically injured.

Police learned that Jiminez lived on Peekskill Hollow Road in Putnam Valley, and after searching the area for hours, they located the suspect at a real estate office on Peekskill Hollow Road.

He was charged with murder and attempted murder and remanded to the Westchester County Jail without bail following his arraignment in Somers Town Court.

An ICE spokesman said an immigration detainee was housed in the Westchester County Jail.