James Randell “Randy” Witten was doing something ordinary outside his Utah home when authorities say a gunman turned his porch into an execution scene.
The 71-year-old Army and Air Force veteran had been hanging decorations in Davis County in May when Axel Eduardo Chavez-Marroquin allegedly arrived, got out of a vehicle and shot him from behind.
Federal officials are now using Witten’s killing to attack California sanctuary policies, saying the 24-year-old suspect had already been arrested or convicted in domestic violence cases before the Utah slaying.
KSL’s account of the charging documents said Chavez-Marroquin “leapt out of the front passenger seat and moved towards James, firing approximately 10 rounds and killing James from behind.”
Investigators soon had a vehicle trail to follow. Police received reports of a car moving erratically near the shooting scene with something orange hiding its license plate. A witness also reported seeing a passenger throw donuts, a beanie, a bandana and gloves from the vehicle.
Hours later, surveillance footage allegedly showed a passenger remove orange tape from the plate before the car continued toward Las Vegas.
Authorities say Chavez-Marroquin had only been in West Point, Utah, for eight hours after coming from Nevada before Witten was killed. He allegedly left immediately after the shooting.
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Nevada authorities found the vehicle June 16 with Chavez-Marroquin inside. By June 29, he had been transferred to the Davis County Jail in Utah.
The Department of Homeland Security traced Chavez-Marroquin’s immigration history to a 2021 illegal crossing at the California border, followed by release into the U.S. under the Biden administration.
DHS also listed a California criminal history that began before the Utah murder case. Chavez-Marroquin was convicted of domestic violence in Santa Ana, California, in 2024, then arrested for domestic violence in Laguna Niguel, California, in 2025.
ICE tried to hold him through detainers in both California cases, but DHS blamed local sanctuary policies for his release from custody.
After Witten’s death, ICE lodged another detainer, its third effort to take custody of Chavez-Marroquin.
Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Lauren Bis put the blame on California officials before turning to the veteran killed in Utah.
“This monster is charged with murdering a 71-year-old Army and Air Force veteran in Utah. California sanctuary politicians RELEASED this criminal from jail TWICE after arrests for domestic violence. Following his release, he went on to commit this heinous murder,” Bis said in a statement.
Prosecutors are also fighting him as a flight risk, pointing to his ties to El Salvador and a California fugitive status tied to probation.
His Utah charges include murder with a dangerous weapons enhancement, discharge of a firearm causing serious injury, obstruction of justice and dangerous weapon conduct by a restricted person.
In New York, another repeat offender is accused of targeting an elderly victim in a public attack.
The subway case centers on Zaki Smith, a 36-year-old parolee with 14 prior arrests, who was taken into custody during Monday morning rush after a 70-year-old woman was pushed onto the tracks.
Police put the Saturday attack before 11:30 a.m. at the 57th and 7th station in Midtown, where Smith allegedly shoved the woman from behind.
Bystanders pulled her back onto the platform. She was treated at Weill Cornell Medical Center for a head laceration and was reportedly stable.
Smith was charged with felony and misdemeanor assault in what appeared to be an unprovoked attack.
His record includes a March 2022 guilty plea to second-degree assault. That June, he received a five-year sentence for assaulting a corrections officer, according to the Bronx District Attorney’s office.
Records show Smith was supposed to remain on supervised release until 2030.
A source also tied his history to a May 2025 robbery of an MTA worker, when Smith was allegedly found with stolen FDNY work phones.
Before the subway case, Smith had most recently been arrested June 16, 2026, in a Flatiron theft case involving cleaning supplies and reports of service-elevator access.
His arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court was still pending, the New York Post reported.
In Massachusetts, Tyler Brown’s court record placed him at McLean Hospital in Belmont just three days before he allegedly opened fire on passing cars in Cambridge.
The complaint connected Brown’s hospital release to warnings received by his parole officer, including drug use and strange behavior.
Authorities accused Brown of firing up to 60 shots at drivers in May, sending two people to the hospital.
Brown’s violent record stretches back at least to 2014. In a 2020 case, he received a five-to-six-year sentence after shooting at Boston police, less than prosecutors had recommended.
Officers in that case also described Brown as appearing “emotionally disturbed,” according to former Democratic Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ office.
The new case includes charges of armed assault with intent to murder, carrying a gun without a license, assault and battery with a firearm and illegal possession of a large-capacity firearm.
One warning came from someone living with Brown, who told the parole officer “he’s off his rocker” and had been getting high all night.
The parole officer also allegedly received a FaceTime video call from Brown, who was “waving around a semi-automatic rifle” in someone’s kitchen while saying “these people are gonna fucking pay” and “I’m not going back to prison.”
By late May, Brown was appearing in Cambridge District Court by video from his hospital bed, where he had been since a Massachusetts State Police trooper and Marine veteran shot him to end the May 11 spree.
Brown is pleading not guilty to eight charges, including armed assault with intent to murder.
At the dangerousness hearing, prosecutors showed video that appeared to capture Brown walking in the street with a gun as rapid gunfire could be heard. Moments later, the footage showed him going to the ground and throwing the weapon several feet away.
Brown was ordered to remain in custody after the hearing.
