A former Illinois teacher who was living in the U.S. illegally has been arrested by federal authorities in connection with an alleged role in a 2024 Tren de Aragua-related mass shooting at a Chicago house party that left three people dead, officials said Monday.
Giovanna Mercedes Moreno Occhipinti, 32, a Venezuelan national who also holds Italian citizenship, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on May 13, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
DHS said Occhipinti entered the United States in October 2021 through the Visa Waiver Program and was required to depart by Jan. 2, 2022, but remained in the country beyond that deadline.
Authorities allege that on the night of the Dec. 2, 2024, shooting, Occhipinti drove the two suspected gunmen — Ricardo Granadillo Padilla and Edward Martinez Cermeno — to the location where three people were killed and five others were wounded.
Giovanna Mercedes Moreno Occhipinti, 32, a former Illinois teacher and illegal immigrant, was allegedly involved in a December 2024 mass shooting that left three people dead at a Chicago house party. (Department of Homeland Security)
“Although Chicago police arrested this illegal alien shortly after the shooting, sanctuary politicians released her from jail without notifying ICE,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. “Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS is doing the job that sanctuary politicians in Illinois refuse to do: putting the American people first and removing these dangerous criminals from our communities.”
Martinez Cermeno was released from ICE custody in January 2025 after a federal judge found that prosecutors had not met the legal standard needed to keep him detained while awaiting trial.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, investigators discovered multiple weapons inside Occhipinti’s vehicle, DHS said. Officials also believe she assisted Granadillo Padilla and Martinez Cermeno in avoiding law enforcement after the attack.
Ricardo Granadillo Padilla and Edward Martinez Cermeno are the alleged gunmen involved in a shooting that left three people dead at a Chicago house party. (Department of Homeland Security)
The Chicago Police Department arrested Occhipinti on Dec. 5, 2024, on charges of unlawful use of weapons and other weapons offenses. However, she was released without ICE ever being notified under Chicago’s sanctuary policies, which protect illegal immigrants from federal immigration authorities.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office decided not to prosecute the suspects, DHS said, and Granadillo Padilla and Martinez Cermeno were eventually deported.
“Giovanna Mercedes Moreno Occhipinti’s actions were calculated and deliberate, leading to the loss of three lives,” said HSI Chicago Special Agent in Charge Matthew Scarpino. “I’m proud of our agents for pursuing this case to the end, ensuring that everyone who helped facilitate this mass homicide is brought to justice.”
Fox News was told by DHS that Occhipinti was a teacher at an unspecified school in the Chicago suburb of Elgin. Illinois officials have refused to cooperate with federal authorities and will not tell DHS the name of the school, Fox News has learned.
A weapon found after three illegal immigrants were involved in a mass shooting at a Chicago party that left three people dead, authorities said. (Department of Homeland Security)
Occhipinti is being held at the Grayson County Detention Center in Leitchfield, Kentucky.
