KANSAS CITY, MO – Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a press release earlier in June commending the efforts of the agency’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City field office for their role in helping land the conviction of a Salvadoran fugitive responsible for a 2005 murder in Lenexa, Kansas.
On March 27th, the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office in Kansas announced that 43-year-old Angel Maria Herrera received a 50-year sentence for the September 2005 murder of Maria Morfin-Rojas.
According to Lenexa Police, officers responded to an apartment located off the 11900 block of West 77th Terrace on September 15th, 2005, in response to reported “suspicious activity.” When officers entered the residence, they found the body of a 30-year-old woman later identified as Morfin-Rojas, who’d been fatally stabbed.
Herrera was identified as a primary suspect in the investigation shortly after Morfin-Rojas’ body was discovered, with detectives learning he’d already fled the United States into Mexico days prior. A warrant was issued for Herrera on September 17th, 2005, on a charge of first-degree murder, with a break in the case not coming until April 2023 after officials learned of his arrest in El Salvador.
Nearly 19 years to the date of the warrant being issued, the lead detective from Lenexa Police working the case was accompanied by federal agents to El Salvador on September 18th, 2024, to carry out Herrera’s extradition back to the United States.
As Herrera’s trial played out, HSI Kansas City agents helped coordinate the travel of two witnesses to the United States to testify against Herrera, with the aforementioned witnesses’ testimony being critical in his January 20th conviction of first-degree murder and aggravated burglary.
HSI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Rick Sabatini issued a statement following Herrera’s conviction and sentencing, saying, “Justice transcends time and distance. I’m extremely proud of our agents for working with multiple partner agencies to bring these two key witnesses to the United States to provide crucial testimony. While we can’t bring the victim back, we can bring closure to her friends and family, and reassurance to the public that HSI never gives up in our efforts to hold criminals accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
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