c/o Claypool Law Firm

4 E. Holly St., Suite 201, Pasadena, CA 91103

 ATTACHMENT A

This notice of claim is filed pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. 2761 &
1346 for wrongful death money damages for the death of Kayla Hamilton caused by the
institutional failures and negligent or wrongful acts or omissions of one or more
employees of the United States Government (Department of Homeland Security) while
acting within the course and scope of their employment under circumstances where
Defendant USA, if a private person, would be liable to Plaintiff in accordance with
Maryland law.
On July 27, 2022, Kayla Hamilton, a 20-year autistic woman was raped, strangled
with a phone cord and murdered in Aberdeen Maryland by a minor who was associated
with the MS-13 gang in El Salvador. Due to the operational negligence of employees at
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the assailant was permitted to enter the United
States illegally. The operational negligence of one or more employees of DHS is not
limited to the following:

1. DHS employees negligently, recklessly and/or egregiously failed to follow

proper DHS protocol in lifting the shirt of the assailant to visually inspect for
gang related tattoos. Had DHS employees performed a rudimentary visual
inspection of assailant's body, they would have seen MS-13 gang related tattoos
on his body which would have disqualified assailant from entering US soil and
Kayla Hamilton would be alive today.
2. DHS employees negligently, recklessly and/or egregiously failed to make a
simple phone call to the El Salvador government to verify if assailant was on an
MS-13 gang affiliation list. Had they done so, El Salvador government officials
would have confirmed that the assailant was a known MS-13 gang member with a
prior criminal history. Assailant would have then been disqualified from entering
US soil and Kayla Hamilton would be alive today;
3. DHS employees violated clearly articulated DHS protocol requiring a minor to be
placed with a "verified" relative before entering the US. DHS employees
negligently, recklessly and/or egregiously failed to verify a legitimate family
member of the assailant before allowing him to enter US soil. This was borne out
by inconsistencies in the DHS records regarding the identity of the relative not to
mention the assailant ultimately and shockingly being placed in a foster home by
authorities.
4. DHS supervisors negligently, recklessly, and/or egregiously trained and
supervised DHS employees to properly screen minors attempting to enter US soil
from El Salvador. This operational negligence was the proximate cause of Kayla
Hamilton's rape and murder.

1
FACTS

On July 27, 2022, at approximately 5:13 PM, officers from Aberdeen Police Department
and paramedics from Aberdeen Fire Department responded to the unit block of E. Inca
Street for a cardiac arrest.

Upon arrival, officers located 20-year-old Kayla Hamilton. Ms. Hamilton, an autistic
young woman, had only recently moved to the area with her boyfriend. Officers and
paramedics found Ms. Hamilton was deceased and suffering from injuries consistent
with a homicide. Officers secured the scene and detectives from the Criminal
Investigation Division responded to the scene and assumed the investigation. The Office
of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the death to be a homicide by strangulation.

The investigation conducted by Aberdeen Police Department Criminal Investigations

Division in conjunction with U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Maryland State
Police Homicide Unit, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement showed that Ms.
Hamilton was raped and strangled to death by a 16-year-old Hispanic male that broke
into her mobile home. After raping and killing Ms. Hamilton, the individual stole her
money and cell phone and left the scene. DNA evidence collected from the crime scene
led to the arrest of the now 17-year-old Hispanic male.

The assailant was determined to be an undocumented non-citizen from El Salvador. U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement verified the assailant was listed in El Salvador
as an MS-13 member.

On January 15, 2023 the assailant was arrested and charged with first degree murder.
He is currently being held without bail.

U.S. GOVERNMENT’S LIABILITY

This is a clear liability case. The U.S. Government owed Ms. Hamilton a special duty in
light of her murderer having a criminal propensity shown by his arrest in his native El
Salvador, and being a known MS-13 gang member in El Salvador.

The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee conducted an investigation into the

failures of the U.S. Government in allowing assailant into the United States.

The young man who murdered Ms. Hamilton was allowed to enter the United States as an
unaccompanied alien child in March 2022 at the Rio Grande Valley Sector. The Judiciary
Committee’s investigation determined that the U.S. Government insufficiently vetted
assailant and ignored key warning signs about assailant’s propensity for violence.
Amongst the ignored warning signs were the following:
• Years before entering the United States, the assailant was arrested in El Salvador
for “illicit association” with MS-13, a dangerous gang;
• Assailant had gang tattoos, something that was not disclosed in his Department of
Homeland Security (“DHS”) file or the file held by the Department of Health and
and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Refugee Resettlement (“ORR”).

2
Here, DHS failed to perform the most basic measures to ensure that assailant, a non-
documented immigrant entering the United States was not a dangerous criminal or known
gang member. Had DHS vetted the assailant according to policy, he would have been
placed in a secure facility for criminal unaccompanied minors rather than being placed
with an alleged first cousin whom he escaped from. At no time should assailant have
been roaming free in Aberdeen.

The assailant’s gang affiliation was never discovered by DHS because of its operational
negligence. It was Aberdeen Police Department officers that quickly found the
association. Ironically, assailant told DHS employees that he had left El Salvador to
escape gang-related threats. DHS also missed assailant’s gang-related tattoos further
showing operational negligence on the part of DHS when it should have been acting for
the safety of American citizens and a complete failure to follow vetting protocol when
assailant was detained by DHS.

Further operational negligence was shown in the handling of the assailant’s placement in
a foster home with children while his homicide charge was pending and after his
affiliation with Ms-13 gang was known.

Furthermore, DHS failed to investigate or vet contradicting narratives provided by the

assailant. The assailant’s sponsor is listed as a male first cousin with no childcare
experience, as a female aunt, and as his father. Meanwhile assailant had also told DHS
officials that he had no relationship with his father. Also, the file notes assailant had no
siblings while also stating he had a half-brother.

CLAIMANT’S INJURIES

Due to the callous actions of DHS, Claimant Noble’s daughter was brutally raped and
murdered. Ms. Noble has lost the lifelong love and companionship of her daughter. She
has also incurred medical bills and funeral/burial expenses.

3
 ATTACHMENT B

Witnesses

• Aberdeen Police Department Criminal Investigations Division, employee names

unknown – Address: 60 N. Parke St., Aberdeen, MD.

• Department of Homeland Security – employee names unknown – Address: 4400

South Expressway 281, Edinburg, TX 78542.

• Office of the Chief Medical Examiner – Address: 900 E. Baltimore St., Baltimore,
MD 21223.

• Aberdeen Fire Department – employee names unknown and station number

unknown – Address: Aberdeen, MD

• Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division – employee names unknown –

Address: 221 Milford Mill Rd., Pikesville, MD 21208.

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – employee names unknown –

Address: unknown.