The mother of a man killed by a Border Patrol agent south of Tucson last year is suing the federal government.
Elisa Beckel, the mother of José Luis Arambula, filed the lawsuit in Tucson’s federal district court Friday. In it she says she “has lost the love, affection, companionship, care, protection and guidance since the death and in the future,” court documents read. And she has suffered pain, grief, sorrow, anguish and stress in addition to incurring funeral and burial expenses. The lawsuit does not specify a dollar figure for damages.
Border Patrol agent Daniel Marquez shot Arambula, 31, in the back of the head on May 30, 2014, as he chased him through a pecan grove near Green Valley.
Though Arambula was unarmed, the agent said he saw Arambula turn twice toward the agents and punch his hand out as if he were about to shoot a weapon. Marquez fired nine times, striking Arambula once. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The incident began about 2:30 p.m. when Border Patrol agents tried to stop the Jeep Arambula was driving on Interstate 19 after having seen it in a nearby desert area. Arambula abandoned the Jeep in a pecan grove and ran away with Marquez and another agent in pursuit, according to police reports.
After the shooting, agents found nearly 500 pounds of marijuana in Arambula’s Jeep. He had been arrested about a month before the shooting by Pima County sheriff’s deputies, who found 300 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle.
The Pima County Attorney’s Office cleared Marquez of any wrongdoing in September. It wrote that “a jury in a criminal trial would most likely find that Agent Marquez’ actions were justified under the circumstances. Given Mr. Arambula’s actions, a jury would likely conclude that Agent Marquez reasonably believed that deadly physical force was immediately necessary to protect himself from Mr. Arambula’s apparent attempt to use deadly physical force.”
But Bill Risner and Jesus Romo, the attorneys representing Beckel, wrote in their complaint that Arambula never threatened the agents and therefore the shooting wasn’t justified.
“The shooting of Mr. Arambula resulted from the negligent handling of the weapon or was an unnecessary use of deadly or excessive force, either of which give rise to a cause of action under Arizona law for money damages,” the complaint reads.
