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A South Carolina congressman is warning of threats that face Americans “anywhere” after four years of an open border following the random murder of a Lancaster mom of two last month.
The comments come after Lancaster authorities charged six illegal immigrants, between the ages of 13 and 21, in connection with Larisha Thompson’s May 2 murder. She was shot to death while driving to meet friends in Rock Hill.
“Two children will not have a mother to come home to,” Republican South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. “It can happen anywhere, at any time. That’s the sad part. We’ve seen it all over the country.”
He added that while Laken Riley, the Augusta University student killed by illegal Venezuelan migrant Jose Ibarra in February 2024, has become “the face” of crimes committed by those living illegally in the United States, there are similar victims in states across the country, including Thompson and others, such as Lizbeth Medina, Jocelyn Nungaray, Rachel Morin and Kayla Hamilton.
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“The positive thing is: the border’s secure now, but you’ve got to realize: four years of leaving the doors open to over 160 countries to put criminals and anybody else that wanted to come into the country,” Norman said. “You wouldn’t open your house up like that. Yet the Democrats are still not condemning what Joe Biden intentionally did. But it’s a new day, and hopefully, [it is] going to be straightened out in time.”
Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office deputies located Thompson, 40, deceased with a gunshot wound behind the wheel of her vehicle on Riverside Road in Lancaster, which is located about an hour south of Charlotte, North Carolina.
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On May 12, authorities announced the arrests of three adults – Asael Aminadas Torres-Chirinos, 21, Jarby Ardon Ramos-Odari, 18, and Jeyson Sobied Pineda-Salgado, 17 – and three juveniles, ages 13, 14 and 15, in connection with Thompson’s death and a separate burglary that occurred on April 30.
“We’re a nation of law and order, and we’ve got to get back to that.”
“The unknown is what we fear,” Norman said when asked about people with criminal intentions who may have crossed illegally into the United States during the Biden administration. “When you hear [FBI Director] Kash Patel talk about threats… the fact is that they’re doing their best, but… we don’t know who’s here. And we’re getting a lot of them out, but there’s still the unknown of who’s left here. And that’s the problem. How many more deaths do we have to have that are just so senseless?”
Norman said he hopes prosecutors pursue the death penalty against the adult suspects accused of murdering Thompson.
“South Carolina is a great state,” Norman said, but added that people have “got to be aware” and “diligent.”
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Lancaster Sheriff Barry Faile said Thompson’s “shooting defies any sense of decency in a civilized society,” during a May press conference.
“Ms. Thompson was going about her business on a Friday night, not bothering anyone. All of a sudden, these six men and boys – out to get something for nothing from someone they did not know and had no business bothering – pulled alongside her car, and Torres-Chirinos opened fire, killing Ms. Thompson,” Faile said at the time. “There’s no place in our society for acts like this or the people who commit them, and my hope is these six are never again among us.”
The Department of Homeland Security has placed detainers on all six individuals charged, Faile said during a press conference, adding that the community is a “much safer place today because these six individuals are off the streets.”
Faile alleged that the suspects pulled up alongside Thompson and fatally shot her in what authorities described as a “random robbery attempt.” Authorities believe the other five suspects were in the vehicle with Torres-Chirinos, who was driving and allegedly fired the fatal shot at Thompson. They are accused of attempting to enter her vehicle and then fleeing the scene upon realizing that it was locked.
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On April 30, deputies were dispatched to the Van Wyck Mart at 644 Rock Hill Highway before 8 a.m. to investigate a burglary. The store owner told deputies that surveillance video footage showed several young men trying to get into the store around 10:30 p.m. on April 29. When they could not get inside, they allegedly broke open a door on the northwest corner of the building, which opened up to a bathroom that had access to the inside of the store.
The suspects are also accused of firing a handgun at a security camera and the bathroom door. Detectives collected ballistics evidence at the scene.
The store the suspects allegedly broke into and the location of Thompson’s murder are a seven-minute drive apart. Detectives determined that ballistic evidence recovered from the scene of the murder came from the same 9 mm handgun used at the burglary days before.
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Through digital surveillance, investigators also identified Torres-Chirinos at the scene of both crimes. They questioned him at the sheriff’s office on May 8, and by the end of that day, they had identified, located and detained the five additional suspects.
The three adult suspects are charged with murder, attempted armed robbery and second-degree burglary. Authorities believe Torres-Chirinos fired the handgun in both incidents, and he is charged with two counts of firearms possession during the commission of a crime and one count of firearms possession by an unlawful alien. A judge denied bond for all three men.
The three juvenile suspects are also charged with murder, attempted armed robbery and second-degree burglary.
All six suspects are subject to removal from the United States under federal immigration law based on their immigration status, the sheriff’s office said.
Thompson’s family is “grieving and trying to get their heads around how something like this could happen,” Faile added.
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