DeSantis puts Jacksonville homicide suspect at center of immigration debate

A defendant accused of killing a man he called his uncle in October in Jacksonville has entered pleas of not guilty on charges of second-degree murder and evidence tampering at his arraignment hearing on Thursday.

The same day, Gov. Ron DeSantis talked about the case —- after his office gave local media advanced notice about the hearing — and railed against President Joe Biden's immigration policies.

On Oct. 6 police found 46-year-old Francisco Javier Cuellar dead in a house on Lone Star Road in Jacksonville just before midnight.

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Police arrested a man they initially identified as 17-year-old Reynel Alexander Hernandez on a murder charge, saying he had been found covered in blood, wandering near the scene.

The man was later rebooked when police identified him as 23-year-old Yery Noel Medina Ulloa. Police said he was in the country illegally and had faked his name and age. He is on an immigration hold ineligible for bail in the Duval County jail, records show. His arrest report cites his Honduras birth certificate.

The New York Post wrote about the Medina Ulloa case, saying it wasn't clear how he got to Florida. But it quoted the victim's daughter as saying she believed he came in on resettlement flights, something DeSantis mentioned Thursday in an unrelated news conference in Jacksonville.

"He should have never been in this country to begin with, and definitely should not have been dumped in the state of Florida," DeSantis said.

There is no detail in the arrest report about how Medina Ulloa got into the country or to Jacksonville. But his jail listing does say he's been in Jacksonville for two months.

DeSantis said he will seek legislative help to stop the flights of private contractors hired by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to bring refugees to Florida.

Last month the Post did a story about late-night flights relocating unaccompanied minors who came into the country illegally in Texas to other states. The article says one flight came into Jacksonville and that the young people aboard were then taken on to New York.

Jacksonville homicide investigation

Cuellar was found at 11:45 p.m. stabbed to death on Oct. 6 at his unsecured home off Monument Road after reports of a man covered in blood walking along the roadway, police said. Investigators said they believed both men lived in the home, and security video shows the victim stabbed and hit with a chair. A witness said Medina Ulloa had called about what happened and that “Uncle Francisco” had hit him, according to the arrest report.

Prosecutors are seeking a grand jury indictment for first-degree murder, and DeSantis' office has disputed that Medina Ulloa is related to Cuellar, First Coast News reported.

Medina Ulloa's next pretrial hearing is set for Nov. 30.

dscanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: DeSantis puts Jacksonville homicide case at center of immigration debate