Local authorities have leveled additional, gruesome charges against an illegal migrant previously released into the country by the Biden administration and accused of murdering a Georgia mother of five.
David Hector Rivas-Sagastume, a Honduran national who unlawfully entered the U.S. several years ago, is accused of brutally murdering a Georgia mother earlier in March, according to federal immigration authorities. Rivas-Sagastume has since been charged with additional heinous crimes — including rape and necrophilia — and is being detained in a local jurisdiction that has rolled back cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“David Hector Rivas-Sagastume, a 21-year-old Honduran national, entered the United States illegally on March 17, 2021, and was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol,” a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “He was issued a notice to appear and paroled into the country by the previous administration.”
“A judge ordered him removed on July 11, 2023,” the DHS spokesperson continued. “On March 18, 2025, he was being arrested by the Cobb County Police Department for capital murder and other crimes. ICE has lodged an immigration detainer with the Cobb County Jail.”
Earlier in March, Rivas-Sagastume was arrested by local police in Cobb County, Georgia, for the death of 52-year-old Camillia Williams, a grandmother and mother of five children, according to Channel 2 Action News. The Honduran national allegedly placed Williams into a chokehold, rendering her unconscious, and then allegedly placed both of his knees and full body weight on her neck, ultimately killing her.
Williams’ family told Channel 2 that she had expressed concern about a man following her around just days before her death. “She called the dude a weirdo and, from my understanding, he pretty much waited until he caught her by herself and did what he done,” Arsene Williams, her brother, said to the news outlet.
Rivas-Sagastume — who allegedly dumped Williams’ body near a road in Marietta, Georgia — has since been additionally charged with rape, necrophilia, malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and aggravated sexual battery.
An arrest report obtained by the DCNF confirms that an immigration detainer was placed on Rivas-Sagastume on the day he was taken into custody by police. The report listed him as unemployed and living in the Jacksonville, Florida, area at the time of this arrest.
The gruesome charges against the illegal migrant — and the Trump administration’s quest to assume custody of him — follow major changes in how Cobb County authorities cooperate with their federal immigration counterparts.
After defeating the incumbent Republican sheriff in the November 2020 elections, Democrat Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens immediately abolished a 287(g) agreement the county had in place with federal immigration authorities since 2007. The agreement facilitates cooperation between ICE and local police.
“I sincerely think this is the right thing for Cobb County to do,” Owens said at the time, according to the Cobb County Courier. “I know it’s not going to be enough today to fully restore the trust [from immigrant communities], but we’re going to work hard to restore the trust and your faith in the Cobb County Sheriff Office.”
The 287(g) program, named after a section of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, deputizes local and state law enrichment officers with certain immigration authorities. ICE argues these cooperation agreements enhance public safety by allowing ICE to partner with local agencies to identify and remove criminal illegal migrants.
Studies suggest that nixing 287(g) agreements negatively affects the number of criminal illegal migrants handed over to ICE. An investigation by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) revealed that, in nearby Gwinnett County, ICE holds on illegal migrants detained in their custody fell sharply after Gwinnett County Sheriff Kaybo Taylor, also a Democrat, abruptly ended his department’s 287(g) cooperation agreement upon entering office in 2021.
“IRLI’s investigation found that Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office honored ICE holds on a total of 1,652 individuals in 2020. In 2021, that number dwindled to 240 individuals, representing a more than 85 percent decrease in just one year,” the report stated.
The Center for Immigration Studies listed numerous examples of heinous criminals identified in Cobb County through the 287(g) program, including a Honduran national charged with rape in 2020, a Salvadoran national charged with child molestation in 2019 and a Mexican national repeatedly charged with drunk driving, among other examples.
The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office will likely not be changing its tune on 287(g) any time soon. Owens was reelected last November, giving him another four years atop the department.
Beyond scrapping his department’s 287(g) agreement with ICE, Owens additionally attracted national attention in October 2024 after he called on his deputies to investigate a local Burger King for getting his order wrong.
Williams’ death follows the brutal 2024 killing of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, which sparked legislative action in both the state and Washington, D.C. Venezuelan illegal migrant Jose Ibarra was convicted of her killing in November and handed a life sentence.
The Trump administration, for its part, has dramatically ramped up enforcement actions against illegal migrants across the country. Immigration agents, empowered with fewer restrictions and aided by other federal law enforcement agencies, have arrested more than 30,000 illegal migrants since President Donald Trump re-entered the White House in January.
The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF that asked if their office plans to honor the detainer request placed on Rivas-Sagastume.
The Trump administration made it clear it will continue to crack down on illegal migrants throughout the United States.
“President Trump and [Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem] will not allow criminal illegal aliens — including accused murderers — to be loose on America’s streets,” the DHS spokesperson said to the DCNF.
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