By Catrina Barker | The Center Square contributor
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Authorities confirmed the arrest of Gabriel Calixto in Mexico for the 2023 murder of Emma Shafer in Springfield, Illinois. Surviving victim Katie O’Brien, who was previously attacked by Calixto, welcomed the news, calling it long-overdue justice after years of fear.

O’Brien said she first learned about the arrest when another reporter reached out while she was out shopping.

“I truly was stunned because I thought everyone was done looking for him,” she said. “It just kind of seemed like something that fell off the radar.”

Calixto’s conviction of kidnapping O’Brien was vacated in October 2020, and he was released after pleading to a lesser charge of unlawful restraint and time served. In 2021, he was arrested on a federal immigration charge and transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, but records are unclear how he was later released from Department of Homeland Security detention.

The case has already attracted political attention. Earlier this year, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem visited Springfield, just blocks from where Shafer was killed, to criticize Illinois’ immigration policies.

“Just a couple of houses away from here, Emma Shafer was brutally stabbed and murdered by an illegal immigrant who was released into the United States by the Biden administration,” Noem said during a Springfield news conference in May.

O’Brien said she has mixed feelings about Noem’s Springfield visit.

“She did give the case the momentum it needed for him to be found,” O’Brien said. “But on the flip side, Emma was very for immigration laws and opening our borders and being accepting of everyone around us. So it was kind of a slap in the face for Emma’s family for Noem to show up there, basically on their front porch advertising something they don’t believe in and that she didn’t believe in.”

The Shafer family did not immediately respond to The Center Square request for comment.

Looking ahead, O’Brien said she and her mother plan to attend Calixto’s court proceedings in Springfield, if he is extradited, to ensure victims and their families are represented in the process

“Since he was never a citizen and lost his [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] status after his first crime, we definitely expected him to be deported after my case,” said O’Brien. “So once again, why didn’t that happen back then? If you’re not a citizen here and you commit felonies, you shouldn’t be able to stay.”

While relieved, O’Brien said the arrest should have happened much sooner.

“I can see how it’s a lot harder once it becomes an international case, but I’m just really glad they were still looking for him even though they were keeping it on the down low,” said O’Brien.

Her relief comes with lingering frustration over how her own case was handled. Calixto was previously convicted of kidnapping O’Brien but served only two years after his sentence was reduced. She said no one notified her when his conviction was vacated.

“I feel like the justice system kind of let me down,” O’Brien said. “They didn’t pay for my victim therapy afterwards, and no one called to tell us he was out in the first place.”