Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 353, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 8, 2012 Page: 3 of 20
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Sweetwater Reporter
Sunday, January 8, 2012 ■ Page A3
Obituaries
LINDA HINOJOSA
HUGHES
LINDA HINAJOSA
HUGHES
Linda Hinajosa Hughes, 82,
of Sweetwater passed away on
Dec. 21, 2011. She married Silas
Wayne Hughes on Nov. 20, 1950
in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Linda
was born to Luis Hinajosa and
Victoria Arrendondo, Nov. 17,1929
in Hebbronville, TX.
She is survived by a sister, Maria
Veloz from California; a daughter,
Mary Hughes from Rowlett, Texas;
six grandchildren and 10 great-
grandchildren.
Memorial services will be held at
2 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012, at
the North Dallas Funeral Home at
2710 Valley View Lane, Dallas.
Texas teen deported to
Colombia reunites with mom
I)ALIAS (AP) - A Texas
teenager who was deported to
Colombia in May after claim-
ing to be an illegal immigrant
was returned to the United
States and remains at the cen-
ter of an international mystery
over how a minor could be
sent to a country where she is
not a citizen.
Her family has questioned
why U.S. officials didn't do
more to verify her identity and
say she is not fluent in Spanish
and had no ties to Colombia.
While many facts of the case
involving jakadrien Lorece
Turner remain unclear, U.S.
and Colombian officials have
pointed fingers over who is
responsible.
Jakadrien, 15, arrived in
Dallas on Friday evening and
was reunited with her fam-
ily. She was flanked by her
mother, grandmother and
law enforcement when she
emerged from the interna-
tional gate at Dallas-Fort
Worth International Airport
shortly before 10 p.m.
"She's happy to be home,"
the family's attorney, Ray
Jackson, said, adding that the
family would not be issuing
any statements Friday night.
He said die family was
"ecstatic" to have Jakadrien
back in Texas and they plan
to "do what we can to make
sure she gets back to a normal
life."
Immigration experts say
that while cases ot mistaken
identity are rare, people can
slip through the cracks, espe-
cially if they don't have legal
help or family members work-
ing on their behalf. But they
say U.S. immigration authori-
ties had the responsibility to
determine if a person is a citi-
zen.
"Often in these situations
they have these group hear-
ings where they tell eveiybody
you're going to be deported,"
said Jacqueline Stevens, a
political science professor at
Northwestern University, who
is an expert on immigration
issues. "Everything is really
quick, even if you under-
stand English you wouldn't
understand what is going on.
If she were in that situation
as a 14-year-old she would
be herded through like cattle
and not have a chance to talk
to the judge about her situa-
tion."
Jakadrien's saga began
when the teen ran away more
than a year ago. Jakadrien's
family said she left home in
November 2010. Houston
police said the girl was arrest-
ed on April 2, 2011, for mis-
demeanor theft in that city
and claimed to be Tika Lanay
Cortez, a Colombian woman
born in 1990. It was unclear
if she has been living under
that name.
Houston police said in a
statement lha L her name was
run through a database to
determine if she was wanted
by Immigration and Customs
Enforcement but the results
were negative. She was then
turned over to the Harris
Comity jail and booked on the
theft charge.
The county sheriff's office
said it ran her through the
available databases and did
the interviews necessary to
establish her identity and
immigration status in the
country, with negative results.
A sheriffs office employee
recommended that an immi-
gration detainer be put on her,
and upon her release from jail
she was turned over to ICE.
U.S. immigration officials
insist they followed proce-
dure and found nothing to
indicate that the girl wasn't a
Colombian woman living ille-
gally in die country.
An ICE official said die teen
claimed to be Cortez through-
out die criminal proceedings
ill Houston and the ensuing
deportation process, in which
an immigration judge ulti-
mately ordered her back to
Colombia.
Standard procedure before
any deportation is to coordi-
nate widi die odier country in
order to establish that person
is from diere, die ICE official
said.
The ICE official, speaking
on condition of anonymity
due to not being authorized
to discuss additional details of
die case, said die teenager was
interviewed by a representa-
tive from the Colombian con-
sulate and diat countiy's gov-
ernment issued her a travel
document to enter Colombia.
Jakadrien was issued travel
documents at die request of
U.S. officials using information
they provided, the Colombian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
said. Colombian officials are
investigating what kind of
verification was conducted by
its Houston consulate to issue
the temporary passport.
The girl was given
Colombian citizenship upon
arriving in diat countiy, die
ICE official said.
According to die Colombian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
the girl was enrolled in die
country's "Welcome Home"
program after she arrived
there. She was given shelter,
psychological assistance and
a job at a call center, a state-
ment from the agency said.
"If she looked like an adult,
and she told diem she was
a 21-year-old Colombian
citizen, and she didn't show
up in their databases, this
was inevitable," said Albert
Armendariz, an immigration
attorney from El Paso.
Jakadrien's family says diey
have no idea why she ended
up in Colombia. Johnisa
Turner said die girl is a U.S.
citizen who was born in Dallas
and was not fluent in Spanish.
She said neither she nor
the teen's father had ties to
Colombia. Jakadrien's grand-
modier, Lorene Turner, called
the deportation a "big mistake
somebody made."
"She looks like a kid, she
acts like a kid. How could diey
think she wasn't a kid?" Lorene
Turner asked on Thursday.
Lorene Turner, a Dallas
hairstylist, said she spent a lot
of time on die Internet tiying
to track down Jakadrien.
Ultimately, die girl was
found in Bogota by die Dallas
Police Department widi help
from Colombian and U.S. offi-
cials.
Dallas Police detective
C'111011 (pronounced Simone)
Wingo, die detective ill charge
of the case, said she was
contacted in August by the
girl's grandmother, who said
Jakadrien had posted "kind
of dist urbing" messages on a
Facebook account where she
goes by yet another name.
Wingo said the girl was
located in early November
through her use of a com-
puter to log into Facebook.
Relatives were then put into
contact with the U.S. embas-
sy in Bogota to provide pic-
tures and documents to prove
Jakadrien's identity.
Colombian officials said
when the government discov-
ered she was a U.S. citizen and
a minor, it put her under die
care of a welfare program.
State Department spokes-
woman Victoria Nuland said
the case was brought to die
State Department's attention
in mid-December.
"We. didn't have anyinvolve-
ment at all in this case until it
came to light diat diere maybe
a problem widi an American
minor in Colombia, and
that — and then we became
involved bodi widi Colombian
audiorities and widi folks in
Dallas," Nuland said.
Stephen Yale-Loehr, who
teaches immigration law
at Cornell Law School, said
hundreds of U.S. citizens
are wrongfully detained or
deported each year.
"There are a variety of legit-
imate reasons why somebody
might not appear to be a U.S.
citizen at first glance." he said.
"It's the duty of die U.S. federal
immigration agency to make
sure that we do not de tain and
deport U.S. citizens errone-
ously. And diis, unfortunately
happened in diis case."
Wake for Texas teen kille
by cops draws hundreds
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Hundreds of people
have attended a wake for a Texas eighth-grader who was
fatally shot by police who thought the boy was brandish-
ing a handgun at school.
Police later learned 15-year-old Jaime Gonzalez was
holding a pellet gun Wednesday inside Cummings
Middle School in Brownsville.
A long line of mourners filed past his open casket
Thursday night at Holy Family Catholic Church. His
stepmother, Noralva Gonzalez, sobbed as she embraced
each visitor.
The Rev. Jorge Gomez apologized to the young people
among the 400 mourners, saying "it is our fault as
adults that the world is the way it is now."
Dozens of young teens wearing white shirts sat in the
pews and lined the back wall of the church, then gath-
ered outside and chanted the boy's name.
Marksman charged in
shooting behind Texas school
ED IN BURG, Texas (AP) — A competitive target shoot-
er was charged Friday in a shooting last month in which
two teens were severely wounded during basketball try-
outs behind their South Texas middle school.
Dustin Wesley Cook, 36, w as arraigned on a charge of
second-degree felony aggravated assault in the Dec. 12
shooting behind Harwell Middle School in Edinburg. He
was only charged in the shooting of 14-year-old Edson
Amaro. Investigators haven't been able to test the bullet
that wounded 13-year-old Nicholas Tijerina because it's
lodged near his spine.
Cook's attorney, Michael Guerra, said that once the
details of what happened come out they will show his
client "didn't have any criminal responsibility, whatso-
ever." He said Cook is a parent and has been praying for
the two boys and their families.
But Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino called the
shootings "reckless" during a news conference after
Cook's arraignment hearing, because he said Cook told
investigators that he knew the school was behind the
targets he was aiming at.
"He admitted knowing that there was a school in the
trajectoiy," Trevino said.
Edson and Nicholas were among about 50 students
trying out for the team on an outdoor court behind the
school when they were shot. Edson lost a kidney and
shortly before Christmas, Nicholas' doctor said the boy
was unable to move his legs, at least for the time being.
Authorities said after the shooting that they had
detained three armed men from adjacent ranchland.
Two of the men, one of them Cook, had been practicing
target shooting nearly a mile from the school and were
released. The third man, an illegal immigrant with an
assault rifle, according to authorities, was kept in custo-
dy on charges of misdemeanor trespass and poaching.
Actress who sued Amazon
over age IDs herself
SEATTLE (AP) — An actress who filed an anonymous
lawsuit against Amazon.com and its Internet Movie
Database for revealing her age identified herself in a
federal court filing Friday.
Huong Hoang of Texas, may be better known by her
stage name, Junie Hoang. She has appeared in such
films as "Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver"
and "Hoodrats 2: Hoodrat Warriors."
The actress filed a million-dollar claim against Amazon
last fall, saying the company mined her IMDb account to
learn her age, 40, and then posted it on her profile —
causing her offers for roles to dry up.
The lawsuit caused a frenzy of online speculation
over who the actress might be — as well as a bit of soul-
searching about ageism in youth-obsessed Hollywood.
Women over 40 make up 24.3 percent of the U.S.
population, but a casting analysis by the Screen Actors
Guild showed actresses over 40 get just 12.5 percent of
roles for television and film. Men of that age are also
about a quarter of the population, but nearly equal their
ranks in casting.
Last month a federal judge in Seattle ordered the
lawsuit dismissed, saying the actress had no grounds to
proceed with an anonymous complaint. Hoang refilled it
under her real name.
She did not immediately return an email seeking com-
ment, nor did her lawyer immediately return a voice
message left after business hours.
A lawyer and a spokeswoman for Amazon also did not
immediately return calls.
Hoang's IMDb profile says she got her start in dance
at 16, was the salutatorian of her high school class and
earned a degree in biomedical science from Texas A&M
University's College of Veterinary Medicine. It lists her
at 5-foot-2,100 pounds, and suggests she can play char-
acters ages 26-33.
She played Sandy in "Gingerdead Man 3," a sequel to
a 2005 Gar} Busey movie in which "an evil yet adorable
gingerbread man comes to life with the soul of a con-
victed killer," according to a description on IMDb.
Other credits include a part as a triage nurse in the
television series "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant," and as
the part of Janet in "My Big Phat Hip Hop Family."
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Shelter Pets
Continued from page fl1
BY TATIANA RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
Sweetwater Animal Control currently has several pets
available for adoption.
The pets available for adoption this week are a male
Labrador mix puppy that is estimated to be 5-6 months
old, a male border collie mix, a male chihuahua mix
and a one-year-old male mixed breed dog. Also still
available are a black Labrador mix mother and four of
her five male puppies, three black and one brown. The
runt, a beige puppy, has already been adopted. Also still
available is the male husky mix puppy, about one year
old from last week.
Dogs and cats are available for adoption for a $15 fee
and the cost of getting the pet vaccinated for rabies.
The pets are required to have their vaccination before
they leave to their new homes.
The pet shown will be available for adoption until
Wednesday. For those interested in adopting a pet, call
the Sweetwater Animal Shelter at 236-6139. If there is
no answer, just leave a message and they will get back
to you the same day or the next day.
Sweetwater Cattle
Auction Market Report
Sweetwater Cattle Auction had a run of 668
head on Nov. 2, 2011. Stackers were 3-6 higher,
feeders were steady and packers were 1-2 lower.
Demand was good on all classes.
STEERS
200-300
190-220
300-400
170-215
400-500
150-180
500-600
135-172
600-700
130-155
700-800
125-143
800-900
110-135
HEIFERS
200-300
150-185
300-400
140-180
400-500
130-172
500-600
110-160
600-700
95-140
700-800
90-120
800-900
75-105
BRED COWS
PACKER COWS
Good
Good
900-1075
72-77-5
Older and Plain
Older and Plain
675-750
48-65
PAIRS
PACKER BULLS
Good
Good
1100-1350
80-89
Older and Plain
Older and Plain
750-950
68-77
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Sweetwater Reporter (Sweetwater, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 353, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 8, 2012, newspaper, January 8, 2012; Sweetwater, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth229656/m1/3/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Sweetwater/Nolan County City-County Library.