Father released despite ICE detainer, charged with murder
May 15, 2025
Briant Reyes Estrada
By KAREN VELIE
Weeks before a Mexican national allegedly murdered his son, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a detainer to deport the San Luis Obispo County Jail inmate. Federal and local prosecutors say the child would be alive today if the detainer had been honored.
“ICE issued a detainer to deport this alien, but he was released from jail because of California’s sanctuary state laws,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on Instagram. “Had California allowed local law enforcement to honor the immigration detainer against this defendant, this child would be alive today.”
In Nov. 2024, Briant Reyes Estrada allegedly used a former employer’s credit card at a hardware store in Cambria, where he spent $1,000.
On April 29, he was booked in the San Luis Obispo County Jail on charges of false impersonation, falsifying a driver’s license, and embezzlement related to the credit card purchases. ICE then issued a detainer to deport Reyes Estrada.
However, deputies released Reyes Estrada, who is in the country illegally, in compliance with California’s sanctuary state law.
Reyes Estrada, a 27-year-old man with a history of leaving his son in his car while he worked, allegedly locked his 6-year-old son David in his car while he worked a 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. shift at the Paso Robles Inn on May 10. Paso Robles experienced a record breaking 99 degree high temperature that afternoon.
At the end of his shift, Reyes Estrada drove his son from the Paso Robles Inn parking lot to Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton. The child was pronounced dead at the hospital.
“I am angry this boy died so unnecessarily,” said San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow. “And I am even more incensed to learn this child’s death could have been prevented! California’s sanctuary state law (SB 54) should be repealed.”
Reyes Estrada pleaded not guilty to charges of second degree murder and child abuse on Wednesday.
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