A Haitian man who was in the country illegally has been detained after a Florida gas station clerk, who was also a mom, was bludgeoned to death.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement assisted the Fort Myers Police Department in the arrest of Robert Joachim, according to a Department of Homeland Security news release.
On April 3, a clerk at a Fort Myers convenience store came out of the store after she witnessed a man pounding on her car, the release said.
The woman was then hit on the head with the hammer multiple times in the broad-daylight attack.
“The clerk comes out to confront him, he walks right at her, and with full strength, he bludgeons her in the head with the hammer. She falls down unconscious and he crushes her head with the hammer 6 more times,” Fox News White House correspondent Bill Melugin posted on X, citing video of the incident.
BREAKING: DHS confirms to @FoxNews that the suspect charged w/ murdering an innocent gas station clerk in Fort Meyers, FL by bludgeoning her to death with a hammer is a Haitian illegal alien who was caught & released at the border by the Biden admin in 2022. An immigration judge… pic.twitter.com/kzDAwg0aCl
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 7, 2026
The suspect fled the scene, but was later arrested by Fort Myers police with the help of ICE, the DHS release said.
Joachim first entered the U.S. in August 2022. After initially being set free to roam the country under the Biden administration’s rules, he was later ordered to be removed from the country.
Joachim was able to remain in America by taking advantage of the Biden administration’s offer of Temporary Protected Status. That, however, expired in 2024.
“This illegal alien barbarically hit this woman in the head multiple times with a hammer. This heinous murderer was RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration. Not only did the Biden administration release him into the country, but they then gave him Temporary Protected Status. Their reckless immigration policies cost this woman her life,” Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis said.
“The arrest of this criminal is an example of how ICE and local authorities can work together to swiftly bring criminals to justice and make our communities safer,” she said.
ICE has lodged a detainer against Joachim so that, whatever happens in the criminal case against him, he can be deported.
“This horrific murder was preventable,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier posted on X.
“Even as Florida arrests hundreds of criminal aliens every day, four years of the Biden admin’s open-border policies continue to wreak havoc on our communities,” he wrote.
“Members of Congress pushing for amnesty should be ashamed. There is no dignity in allowing more American victims at the hands of those who have no right to be in our country,” he wrote.
Gas station customer Andre Harris called the slaying “very gut-wrenching,” according to GulfCoastNewzNow.
“It’s just, you know, you come to the store often, and you get to know the people that actually work,” Harris said.
“That’s someone’s mom, daughter, sister,” he said.
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