A 19-year-old Venezuelan national, Josue Abraham Chirino-Leonice, has been arrested and jailed in Harris County following allegations that he murdered his coworker with a sledgehammer at a Houston construction site.

The victim, carpenter Juan Antonio Salinas Leija, was discovered dead inside the home he was renovating. His family learned of his absence after two days without contact.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirms Chirino-Leonice was arrested by Border Patrol in November 2023 but released into the United States by the Biden administration. ICE has now placed a detainer request for him, urging Harris County officials to detain him pending transfer.

ICE’s Acting Field Office Director Gabriel Martinez stated: “This criminal illegal alien, who never should have been allowed into this country in the first place, is accused of savagely beating a co-worker to death with a sledgehammer and leaving him to die in a house they were renovating together.”

The incident occurs amid ongoing ICE operations in Houston, where over 150 criminal aliens have been detained within five days since President Trump returned to office.