Mother of daughter murdered by MS-13 gang member speaks out in favor of new bill

FIRST ON FOX: The mother of a young girl who was murdered by an MS-13 gang member in 2022 is speaking out after Congressman Russell Fry, R-South Carolina, introduced a bill that could have saved her daughter’s life. 

Kayla Hamilton was just 20 years old when she was sexually assaulted, tied up, and strangled to death by Walter Javier Martinez, a 17-year-old illegal migrant in the U.S. under Unaccompanied Alien Child (UAC) status who was sentenced to 70 years in prison this April. 

This week, Rep. Fry introduced the Kayla Hamilton Act, which would mandate the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary to consider whether a UAC, an illegal immigrant under the age of 18, poses a danger to themselves or the community. 

Kayla Hamilton, who was murdered by an illegal migrant in 2022, celebrates her birthday.  (Tammy Nobles)

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“No one else should ever again have to suffer the way my daughter Kayla did,” Tammy Nobles, Kayla’s mother, told Fox News Digital. “The Biden-Harris Administration’s policies prioritized the comfort of illegal aliens, like Kayla’s murderer, over the safety of innocent Americans.” 

“The Kayla Hamilton Act is necessary to ensure background checks of unaccompanied alien children occur before they are released. If that had happened in the case of Kayla’s murderer, authorities would have known he was an MS-13 gang member.”

Currently, laws surrounding UACs who enter the U.S. illegally without a parent or legal guardian to provide care, require illegal minors to be sent to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) under HHS rather than being immediately deported. 

Representative Russell Fry, a Republican from South Carolina, during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg)

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Rep. Fry’s bill would create tighter restrictions on how HHS should assess illegal migrants who are minors by requiring HHS to contact the consulate or embassy of a UAC’s home country to determine any criminal history or gang affiliation, mandate screening for gang tattoos, and ensure UACs with known gang ties or tattoos must be housed in secure HHS facilities, not released into communities.

“The Kayla Hamilton Act is a critical step toward restoring accountability and protecting American communities,” Fry told Fox News Digital. “The tragic murder of Kayla Hamilton was entirely preventable—a failure by the Biden-Harris Administration to enforce basic vetting protocols.” 

“As the House Judiciary Committee report revealed, Walter Javier Martinez had MS‑13 tattoos and a gang-related arrest in El Salvador long before HHS released him to a sponsor,” Fry continued. “The Kayla Hamilton Act eliminates this reckless discretion and mandates that HHS conduct full background checks, evaluate gang indicators like tattoos, and house dangerous UACs in secure facilities.”

Marvin Medrano, 41, sentenced to more than 100 years in prison, shows off his tattoos alluding to Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang during an interview with AFP, inside the Counter-Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) mega-prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador on January 27, 2025.  (MARVIN RECINOS/AFP)

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The bill is in line with the executive branch and President Donald Trump’s movement to secure the U.S. border and hold dangerous illegal migrants accountable through deportations and criminal penalties. 

It is estimated the Trump administration has deported more than 250,000 illegal migrants, according to the Department of Homeland Security. 

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“This legislation ensures that public safety will never again be an afterthought,” Fry added.

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on X @MizellPreston