An illegal alien from Haiti has been charged with murder after officials say he repeatedly struck a woman with a hammer outside a convenience store in Florida last week, the latest immigration case thrust into the national spotlight by President Donald Trump.
Rolbert Joachin, 40, is in custody and accused by authorities of killing the woman, who has not been publicly identified, during an interaction at a gas station in Fort Myers on 2 April, according to court documents.
The attack was "targeted," and while the victim did not know Joachin, the two "had a previous encounter," a Fort Myers Police Department spokesperson told CNN in an email.
Joachin was taken into custody "after an extensive coordinated manhunt," Fort Myers Police Chief Jason Fields said at a news conference last 10 April.
The victim, whose name is being withheld by police due to Marsy’s Law, was working as a store clerk at the gas station, according to the court documents.
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump shared shocking surveillance footage of the killing, calling it the result of immigration policies under former President Joe Biden and reiterated inflammatory rhetoric associating immigrants with crime. President Trump’s amplification of the video is the latest in a yearslong campaign to use certain killings as apparent evidence for stricter border enforcement.
"The video of her brutal slaying is one of the most vicious things you will ever see," Trump said in his post, referring to the suspect as an "animal" and criticizing humanitarian protections previously granted for Haitians.
Kelei Walker, the acting Miami field officer director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, described the attack as "a tragic moment and an awful time and an awful reason to come together" at the news conference.
Gruesome video of the interaction, also shared online by the Department of Homeland Security, shows a man repeatedly hitting the hood and sides of a car parked in the gas station’s parking lot with an object – an apparent hammer – in his hand.
A woman is seen exiting the store and approaching the man, appearing to speak to him, and the man turns and walks toward her, according to the video, which is then lightly blurred due to the graphic nature of the attack.
Joachin has been charged with murder, criminal mischief, and damage to property over US$ 1,000, a third-degree felony, according to the court documents.
CNN has reached out to Joachin’s lawyers. He’s being held without bond after a hearing in Lee County court and is scheduled to be arraigned on 4 May.