The Associated Press
PHOENIX — A U.S. Border Patrol agent was charged Monday with first-degree murder for shooting an illegal immigrant during a confrontation on the Arizona side of the border in January.
An investigation found that Agent Nicholas Corbett’s killing of Francisco Dominguez-Rivera, of Puebla, Mexico, was not legally justified, said Cochise County’s top prosecutor, Ed Rheinheimer.
Corbett was named in a criminal complaint that also charges him with second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide. Rheinheimer said that a judge will determine during a preliminary hearing which of the charges is best supported by the evidence.
Corbett’s attorney, Daniel Santander, did not immediately return a message left Monday afternoon by The Associated Press.
The shooting, which drew condemnation from the Mexican government, occurred while Corbett was trying to apprehend Dominguez-Rivera and three others who were trying to enter the country illegally.
In the days that followed the incident, the Border Patrol said a scuffle had led to the shooting and the agent “feared for his life.”
More than 300 pages of documents later released by Rheinheimer’s office revealed that Corbett’s account of what led him to shoot and kill the unarmed Dominguez-Rivera did not match witness testimony or forensic evidence.
Corbett told colleagues he shot at a man at the back of a vehicle who looked like he was going to throw a rock.
But three witnesses who were being apprehended along with Dominguez-Rivera _ his two brothers and a sister-in-law _ told investigators that Corbett fired his gun while pushing Dominguez-Rivera to the ground.