Three years ago, a 25-year-old Honduran national named Medina Ulloa was stopped by border patrol agents in Texas. He gave them a fake name and lied about being a juvenile. But instead of kicking him out of the country, authorities gave him a “notice to appear” for a court date that everyone knew he’d never actually attend. Then Ulloa was flown to Jacksonville, Florida, where he was taken in by a 46-year-old father of four. Soon afterwards, the immigrant beat the man to death inside his own home.
Last year, Medina Ulloa pleaded guilty to murder and received a 60-year sentence. And during the course of the prosecution that led to that plea deal, we learned a lot of details about what happened. We learned Ulloa had attempted to tamper with evidence, for example. We also learned from home security footage that Medina Ulloa pummeled his victim with a chair before repeatedly stabbing…
