Norwich Murder Suspect Should Have Been Deported: Report

A shoreline mother says grief over her daughter's murder is now turning to anger.

The man investigators say killed Casey Chadwick was supposed to be deported from the U.S., but authorities say that never happened. Now Chadwick’s family wants to know why that man was not deported.

Wendy Hartling says she was already dealing with too many emotions in the wake of her daughter's murder. Now, she is add anger and frustration to that list. “I'm dying inside. I'm dying," said Hartling, Chadwick's mother.

Chadwick, 25, was found dead inside her Norwich apartment June 15. Police say Jean Jacques, 40, stabbed her to death. Jacques, a Haitian immigrant, is no stranger to the U.S. legal system. In January, he was released from the corrections center in Montville after serving 17 years for attempted murder. The U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ordered him deported - but it did not happen.

“If they had gone through with what they were supposed to do, then I would still have my daughter here," said Hartling. "If they said they were going to deport him then, why didn't they?”

According to the Norwich Bulletin, ICE officials said Jacques was unable produce identity documents that the Haitian government was requiring before taking the convicted felon back. The deportation process needs cooperation of local law enforcement, corrections agencies and the receiving nation; in this case, Haiti.

“You'd have to know more facts to know if someone dropped the ball or not," said Rita Provatas, an immigration attorney at Provatas & McNamara, LLC based in New London. She said until the specifics of Jacques' current U.S. residency status are known, it is unclear if there were any missteps in the handling of this case.

“Ultimately, it's the federal government's job to process people for immigration purposes," said Provatas.

Several elected officials in Connecticut, including Representative Joe Courtney, are demanding answers from Immigration and Homeland Security officials in Washington, D.C. In a letter made public, Courtney wrote that he is 'deeply troubled' by the developments concerning Jacques.

“Did my daughter have to die for people to have their eyes open?," asked Hartling. "That's what I'd like to know.”
 

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