Sheriff: Mexican held in family’s killing is in US illegally

TAYLORSVILLE, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina authorities say the man accused of murdering his ex-wife and her two children is a Mexican citizen who’s in the United States illegally.

Thirty-year-old Areli Aguirre Avilez is charged with murder in the death of 38-year-old mother Maria Calderon, and her children, 11-year-old Angel Pacheco and 12-year-old America Pacheco. The children were found shot inside their burned home, while Calderon is presumed dead. Police say Avilez’s 16-year-old girlfriend joined in the attack, running the mother over with a vehicle at his command and then helping him dump her body into the Catawba River .

The Alexander County Sheriff’s department says Avilez also has been indicted on charges of statutory rape, arson and violating a domestic violence order with a weapon. The 16-year-old is charged with murder and arson.