Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has blamed a mother it deported for the brutal death of her two-year-old son months later, despite her claims that she pleaded to be reunited with the boy as she was being sent back to Honduras.
The Tragic Death of Orlín Josué Hernandez Reyes
Orlín Josué Hernandez Reyes, aged two, died in Escambia County, Florida, in March while in the care of his uncle. The child's mother, Wendy Hernandez Reyes, had been deported in January. Officials reported that the child's body showed multiple broken ribs, a transected pancreas, multiple burns, and evidence of possible sexual abuse.
ICE's Controversial Statement
After the child's death and the arrest of his uncle on murder charges, ICE issued a press release in March claiming that Reyes “abandoned” the two-year-old and “chose to leave her son here with a violent murderer who took his life.” Reyes responded to The Washington Post, saying, “How could I abandon my son, if my son was the love of my life? I did everything with my son. I am not a bad mother who left my child with a killer.”
Background of the Deportation
Wendy Hernandez Reyes and her sister were pulled over in a car in early January in Alabama while heading to her job laying concrete foundations. The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office, which cooperates with federal immigration authorities under the 287(g) program, handed her over to ICE, who detained her in Louisiana. A judge had previously ordered Reyes, an asylum-seeker who entered the U.S. in 2022, deported after she missed a hearing. Throughout her detention, Reyes told the Post she requested to be reunited with her son. “I told them to help me with my boy,” she said. “I needed him.” She was deported less than a month after her arrest.
The Uncle's Arrest and Charges
While Reyes was in detention, she left her son in the care of her brother-in-law, Samuel Maldonado Erazo. Maldonado Erazo, a heavy drinker who allegedly hit his own children with cords and wires, according to his daughter's testimony, called 911 in March, reporting that the two-year-old had collapsed. Authorities were skeptical given the nature of the child's injuries. Medical examiner Deanna Oleske noted that Orlín had a swollen stomach and testicles, suggesting he had been “stomped on.” She stated, “Absolutely no toddler has ‘normal’ injuries like bruising to the back of the hand/knuckles from doing toddler stuff.” Maldonado Erazo was indicted on charges including murder in late March and has pleaded not guilty. ICE lodged an immigration detainer against him, claiming he entered the country illegally in 2021.
Community Efforts and Advocacy
Community advocates are raising funds via GoFundMe to return Orlín's remains to Honduras. Reyes claims she was deported without her passport, complicating efforts to transfer the body. Grace Resendez McCaffery, a Florida-based activist and owner of Latino Media Gulf Coast, has helped raise over $15,000. She told the Pensacola News Journal in March that she was aware of six children left behind in a single week after their parents were deported. “I think we use the term separating families lightly because it's become a common phrase,” McCaffery said, “but this is the reality of what it's like for a child to lose their parents, and in this case, be left in the hands of a monster. They’re so vulnerable and it just doesn’t have to be this way.”
