The third witness of the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo at the hands of federal agents was released from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention Sunday morning, according to his attorney.
Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, the deceased's brother, was in the passenger seat during the shooting and was detained the same day, July 7, alongside two other witnesses, Daniel Tirado Pantoja and Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego. Tirado and Pliego have already been released under orders from two federal judges.
"It’s just been so wonderful – a lot of different emotions when I first heard it might be happening," his attorney, Ruby Powers, said. "So I first didn’t believe it, and then when I received an email from ICE that I knew it was real, so then it was about making sure he got out physically as soon as possible."
Ronaldo Salgado, Lorenzo’s son, shared on social media the family reunited with Victor just before noon.
“Today is a key step in justice for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo,” Ronaldo wrote.
Powers toldHouston Public Mediathe exact reason behind Victor's release was unclear.
"I don’t know what was the final thing that made it happen, but I don’t have a judge’s order or any definitive answer on what it was," Powers said. "I don’t have a definitive answer as to what was the final straw."
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The first two witnesses were released under orders in which federal judges said the men could not be re-detained unless the government demonstrated they are a flight risk or a danger to the community.
ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding Victor's release.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District had already filed a notice to appeal Pleigo's release and was expected to appeal Pantoja and Victor's release as well.
Powers said Victor is grateful to be home with this family.
"He’s out of detention after 50-something-odd days, and he’s able to start healing and sleeping and eating and trying to mourn and try to find some type of normalcy," Powers said.
On Thursday, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said his office had collected most of the evidence in the Lorenzo Salgao Araujo case and was determining what, if any, charges would be presented to a grand jury.
In an appearance onHello Houstonon August 27, Teare said his office was at a “tipping point” with the evidence they’ve collected.
“We’re at a point where we’ve gotten just about everything we are going to get," Teare said. "There are back pieces of evidence that we still need from the federal government that we’ve requested and are effectively waiting on, but we’re now much more moving into the evaluation phase.”
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