Man pleads guilty to Michigan killing that stoked anti-immigrant campaign rhetoric

Grand Rapids — A Mexican national who is in the U.S. illegally pleaded guilty Monday to killing his girlfriend and dumping her body along a Michigan freeway.

Brandon Ortiz Vite, 25, entered the plea in a Grand Rapids courtroom and is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 31.

He faced trial on charges of second-degree murder, carjacking, carrying a concealed weapon and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. He faces at least 30 to 37 years in prison plus a mandatory two-year sentence on the felony firearm charge, according to WOOD-TV.

The case became a political flashpoint in April when former President Donald Trump accused the Biden administration of failing to keep Ortiz Vite out of the country after he was deported in 2020. It’s not known whether he returned during the last year of the Trump administration or during the Biden administration.

During an April campaign visit to Grand Rapids, Trump called Garcia a "beautiful young woman" and Ortiz-Vite a "monster" who had been set loose to "roam our streets." The Republican presidential candidate said the spike in crossings at the southern border was "country changing" and defended his use of the word "animals" to describe illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes.

More:Trump in Michigan labels flow of immigrants at southern border 'country changing'

Ruby Garcia was found shot to death on the side of a highway on March 22.

Before the shooting, she and Ortiz Vite were in a car on U.S. 131, arguing about their relationship, investigators said. Ortiz Vite shot Garcia in the head, removed her body from the car and then drove away, prosecutors said.

Police said the evidence against him includes his call to 911 two days later, confessing to the crime and declaring that he wanted to turn himself in. He was at a church attending Palm Sunday services when he made the call.

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker said Garcia's family preferred Ortiz Vite's plea instead of the case going to trial, according to WOOD-TV.

“Although we have a very good case, and I wasn’t worried about losing it, but things happen,” Becker said. "Things could be overturned. It could be a mistrial. There’s much more certainty with a plea than if you take it to trial.”

After Ortiz-Vite serve his time, Becker said federal immigration authorities would take over.