Mexican Inmate In Arizona Kills Cell Mate To Remain In Jail And Avoid Deportation

A Mexican inmate at an Arizona prison has killed his cell mate to remain in jail and therefore avoid deportation. 43-year-old Roberto Venegas Fernández murdered Michael Patrick McNaughton, 55, on November 16. Both men had been arrested in the San Diego area and were serving time ath a Corrections Corp. prison in Florence, Arizona. Venegas was living as an undocumented migrant in the United States and feared deportation if released.

Sheriff Paul Babeau confirmed that Venegas strangled McNaughton because "he likes being in prison and he's afraid to be liberated as he has nowhere to go. Roberto wanted to find a way to stay in jail, and so while the victim as sitting in his bed, he choked him until he fell to the floor. He jumped on his head and continued choking him until he appears to have died," said Babeu in a statement released by his office. It seems Venegas has no legal represenation.

Official documents suggested that McNaughton had been sentenced to sixe and a half years in prison by a federal court in San Diego after pleading guilty in a case of underage pornography, while Venegas, a Mexican citizen, was sentenced to eight months for entering the country ilegally after being deported.