Six undocumented immigrants, aged between 13 and 21, have been charged in connection with the “random” murder of a South Carolina mother earlier this month. They reportedly exchanged text messages about the crime afterward.

Deputies from the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office discovered the body of Larisha Sharell Thompson, 40, who had been shot, sitting in her vehicle on Riverside Road in Lancaster. This location is about an hour’s drive from Charlotte, North Carolina, and the discovery was made on May 2.

On May 12, officials announced they had arrested Asael Aminadas Torres-Chirinos, 21; Jarby Ardon Ramos-Odari, 18; Jeyson Sobied Pineda-Salgado, 17; along with three minors aged 13, 14, and 15. These arrests were linked to both Thompson’s murder and a separate burglary on April 30.

Sixth Circuit Deputy Solicitor Melissa McGinnis said all six suspects charged admitted to robbing a car during a May 14 hearing, as The Rock Hill Herald first reported.

“I would suspect – again, without knowing all the ins and outs of this case – that the state will seek to have the younger ones being cooperating defendants in exchange for lesser sentences,” he said.

The three juvenile suspects are also charged with murder, attempted armed robbery and second-degree burglary.

All six suspects are subject to removal from the United States under federal immigration law based on their immigration status, the sheriff’s office said. 

“The Department of Homeland Security has placed detainers on these six,” Faile said. “That doesn’t mean the federal government will scoop them up and send them out of the country before their cases are heard in court. It simply means if, for any reason, any one or more of them becomes eligible for release before their charges are resolved in court, Homeland Security will take custody of them, and they will not be back out on the street. Our intention is that all six remain detained until they face the full weight of our judicial system.”