ICE says the 21-year-old defendant had an outstanding removal order before his arrest in a Harris County teenager’s death.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A 21-year-old man charged with murder in the shooting death of a teenager is also subject to an immigration hold after federal officials said he had previously been ordered removed from the United States.
Jose Gregorio Blanco Moreno was arrested Aug. 12 and booked into the Harris County Jail in the death of 16-year-old Jhowel Rafael Hernandez Castro, according to court documents reported by ABC13. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the station that Blanco Moreno is a Venezuelan national who is in the country illegally and had been the subject of an immigration removal order before the murder arrest.
ICE said U.S. Border Patrol arrested Blanco Moreno in December 2023 and later released him with a notice to appear in immigration court. According to the agency’s account, he did not appear for the proceeding, and an immigration judge ordered his removal in May 2024. ABC13 reported that federal immigration authorities did not apprehend him again until his Aug. 12 arrest on the state murder charge.
The immigration history is separate from the evidence underlying the murder case. Harris County investigators say Hernandez Castro was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound after deputies were called July 27 to an apartment on Ella Boulevard near Kuykendahl. Blanco Moreno lived at the apartment with four other people, according to the report. Hernandez Castro was identified as the cousin of a person who was dating Blanco Moreno.
Investigators initially encountered an account suggesting that Hernandez Castro had shot himself, but court documents describe evidence that authorities said contradicted that explanation. A search warrant said Blanco Moreno changed his description of what happened, first saying he did not hear the gunshot and later saying the sound of the shot woke him before he found the teenager holding his firearm.
Detectives also said they did not find gunshot residue on Hernandez Castro’s body and concluded that he had been shot from long range. At an Aug. 13 probable cause hearing, a hearing officer said the bullet’s angle made it essentially impossible for the teenager to have fired the shot himself. Those findings led authorities to treat the death as a homicide and charge Blanco Moreno with murder.
The criminal and immigration processes now create two separate legal issues for Blanco Moreno. The murder allegation will proceed through the Texas court system, where prosecutors must prove the charge and Blanco Moreno retains the presumption of innocence. The federal immigration hold concerns what would happen if he becomes eligible to leave local custody rather than determining the outcome of the murder prosecution.
ICE has placed a hold on Blanco Moreno, according to the agency information reported by ABC13. Such a hold in this case means federal immigration authorities are seeking custody if he is released from the Harris County Jail. The reviewed material does not establish when or under what circumstances he might otherwise become eligible for release, and it does not provide a schedule for any future immigration proceeding.
The available records also do not identify a publicly established motive in Hernandez Castro’s death. Blanco Moreno’s immigration status does not establish any fact about whether he committed the charged offense, and the murder allegation remains unresolved in court.
Blanco Moreno remained in Harris County custody following his Aug. 12 arrest, with the state criminal case pending and the federal immigration hold in place. Further court proceedings will address the murder charge separately from any action immigration authorities may take if custody is transferred.
Author note: Last updated August 21, 2026.