Fugitive Mexican murder suspect deported after capture near Othello

A Mexican man arrested near Othello in August who was wanted for a homicide in his native country has been deported.

Jose De Jesus Barajas Lopez, 30, was transferred to representatives from the Mexican attorney general’s office Wednesday after U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested him Aug. 16, U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement said in a news release.

Barajas Lopez has been charged with the 2013 murder of a man in Colima, a small state on Mexico’s west coast. Witness statements allege he shot the victim multiple times in the chest following an argument near a neighborhood park, the release said.

A judge ordered Barajas Lopez’s deportation last month.

“Protecting the American people from violent criminals is our top priority. We did that today by removing another foreign fugitive trying to evade justice by fleeing to the U.S.,” said Bryan Wilcox, acting field office director for ERO in Seattle, in a statement.