NOVEMBER 27, 2013
PCSO investigates homicide at Corrections Corporation of America
The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office is requesting Roberto Venegas-Fernandez (age 43) be charged with First Degree Murder after he killed Michael Patrick McNaughton (age 55).
On Saturday, November 16, 2013, at 9:47 a.m. the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office was asked to send Homicide Detectives to the “Corrections Corporation of America” (CCA) in Florence. They were asked to investigate what was reportedly a fight between two prisoners which resulted in one of the men dying.
The Corrections Corporation of America is a private prison contracted by the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), to house their prisoners.
Sheriff Paul Babeu said, "What was initially believed to be a fight between two cellmates now appears to be a deliberate murder based on the interview of suspect Roberto Fernandez by Homicide Detectives. Roberto told detectives that he likes it in prison and he was afraid of being released, since he had nowhere to go. Roberto wanted to find a way to stay in jail, so while the victim was sitting on his bed, he choked him until he fell onto the ground, then stomped on his head and continued to choke the victim until he was presumed dead."
Homicide Detectives said Roberto told them he wanted to ensure he got “first degree” murder so after the victim was dead he bit him in the groin area.
Sheriff Paul Babeu stated, “As an illegal, Roberto Fernandez originally committed a sex crime in the U.S. and was sent to prison. Now, as he is approaching his release from prison and would be deported back to Mexico, he brutally murdered a U.S. citizen to ensure that he's not deported. This is a sick and heinous crime amid countless other crimes committed by criminal illegals. When does it become enough for congress and President Obama to finally start enforcing our immigration laws and secure the border? When does it become enough for our own elected leaders to put American citizens and our rights and our own safety first, rather than putting all their efforts into pushing for green cards and amnesty for 11-20 million illegals?”
