Man charged in death of Gabriel Arrazola Perez is in U.S. illegally, feds say

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say a man charged with killing a beloved barber in St. Paul, Minnesota, is in the country illegally.

Gabriel Arrazola Perez, 44, was found fatally stabbed near railroad tracks on Memorial Day.

ICE officials confirmed Monday they've issued a detainer for Perez's alleged killer, 24-year-old Omar Ramos Castro, claiming he admitted to illegally entering the U.S. from El Salvador in 2023 and has no legal status.

Castro was charged earlier this month with second-degree murder and is currently being held in the Ramsey County Jail. Investigators say he admitted to stabbing Perez after they met up near train tracks off Case Avenue East and Birmingham Street on St. Paul's east side. Castro told investigators he stabbed Perez multiple times in an apparent fit of homophobic rage.

Perez owned Barbers on Bryant in Minneapolis. WCCO spoke earlier this month with his friend Danielle Robinson Briand, an immigration attorney who first met Perez while helping him acquire U.S. citizenship in 2022. She says Perez protected his family amid the surge of immigration agents in the Twin Cities earlier this year.

"His passing is something that has taken the entire community by surprise," Briand said. "We want justice for him."

Perez's family released a statement earlier this month, saying he "was our safe place, our protector, our provider, and the person who held all of us together."

If convicted, Castro faces up to 40 years in prison.