Documents obtained that show four violent illegal alien criminals have been charged with murder in Richmond, Virginia over the past two years, and multiple others with unlawful gun possession.

Richmond’s Democrat sheriff Antionette Irving who supervises a sanctuary town refuses to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Meanwhile, the progressive prosecutor of the city, Colette MacEachin, is lenient on illegal aliens armed with guns.

McEachin is endorsed this year by Abigail Spanberger the former Democrat Congresswoman who is now running for Governor and Ghazala Hahmi running for Lieutenant Governor.

It was reported that Richmond has refused to cooperate with ICE officers. Sheriff Irving confirmed this. Democrats want to restrict the rights of law-abiding gunowners, but they will not take illegal guns from illegal aliens.

Prosecutor Gives Illegal Alien Ridiculous Plea Deal

Yonathan Zélaya-Beltran was pulled over by the police for a traffic infraction on February 10, 2023. Beltran did not have a driver’s license or ID, but a search revealed that he was carrying a concealed gun in his pocket. He also had narcotics in his possession.

Richmond prosecutors accepted a plea deal for Beltran, requiring that he complete community service and a substance abuse treatment program , as well as a firearm safety training.

Beltran was aware, according to court documents, that the plea deal would compromise his ability to stay in the United States or return there. Yet he wasn’t sent back to Mexico and it is reprehensible why Democrat Commonwealth Attorney Colette MacEachin didn’t charge him with more serious crimes.

Beltran was not charged with this crime, even though it is a class 6 felony in Virginia for a non citizen to own a firearm. They told him instead to take a course on gun safety and to go to therapy.

The Richmond Department of Justice Services, in its “risk-needs assessment” of Beltran, determined that his recidivism was low on Sept. 23, 2023. Clearly, this decision was wrong, and a man died for it.

Beltran was involved in a violent shooting and robbery spree on February 7, 2024. He has been accused for firing shots at a business in Broad Rock Blvd, 10:20 am, taking money and fleeing. He committed another robbery ten minutes and a mile away at the Lindo Amanecer Restaurant & Market. Beltran, along with Ronaldy Monterroso, are accused for killing Marvin Ramos Hernandez, a 40-year-old restaurant employee.

The suspects were identified by security cameras and witnesses. It was later discovered that the two had attempted a second robbery shortly after Hernandez’s death.

media reports state that Beltran hails from El Salvador. Friends of Hernandez expressed concern that Richmond’s Justice System did not punish him for previous drug and gun charges in 2023. They suggested he should have been deported.

McEachin  was contactedand asked why her office had accepted a weak plea agreement with Beltran following his arrest in 2023. No response has been received.

Another murder by illegal aliens in the same neighborhood

A 19-year old was shot and killed on October 21, 2024 at El Gato Sports Bar, Richmond. This is less than two miles away from the spot where Hernandez was murdered in February.

Both Danilo Isaias Duarte, and Darwan Fernandez Juarez have been charged with murder. ICE has confirmed that they are both illegally in the United States.

Investigators claim that the victim shot a gun in the air while parked. Duarte, Juarez and the victim then shot their guns. The victim suffered two gunshots in the back. Duarte, Juarez and the victim fled the scene. The victim was declared dead on the spot. reports indicate that a woman and man were also.

Duarte had been charged with a traffic offense and driving without a licence in Henrico County in 2022. He was a minor when he arrived in the U.S. in 2013, and became a “dreamer”. Duarte, instead of being deported, was left to kill in Virginia. Trial date set for January 21, 2026

According to ICE Juarez entered illegally the country in 2018 when he was 18 years old. ICE has a hold against him. In November, a jury trial will be held. Juarez, despite being in the country 7 years, requires an interpreter at his court hearings.

More illegal aliens with guns in Richmond

Jorge Enamorado Cruz is an illegal alien currently in Richmond’s city jail. He was charged with illegal possession of a gun in February 2024 and again in May 2025. Enamorado Cruz was previously cited for driving without a licence in 2023 and convicted of identity theft in January 2025. He received a year in prison with six months suspended.

Jose Baca Gutierrez, another Richmond jail inmate, was charged on June 1, 2025 with drug offenses and gun possession by an illegal alien. Gutierrez is a notorious traffic offender, having been convicted of driving without a licence in both 2020 and 2022. In 2023 he was cited after driving 91 mph when a zone of 60 mph was in place. He was apparently let out of prison after his arrest on June 1, because he received a citation in Chesterfield County, Virginia on August 18 for driving with no license and failing to have the vehicle inspected. Gutierrez awaits court on September 2.

Enri Paz, a felon convicted of multiple crimes, was also held in Richmond’s jail. However, it seems he has now been released. He was accused of multiple crimes committed on April. He was charged with multiple crimes that occurred on Apr. His hearing is scheduled for September 2.

Richmonders will never feel safe if they continue to elect leaders who are soft on crime and offer gun safety classes and therapy for violent criminals. It’s probably time to stop funding the sanctuary city in Richmond.

This article first appeared on Virginia sanctuary prosecutor offers illegal aliens a 'gun safety course' and therapy instead of jail.