David Antonio Aviles Perez, a 35-year-old member of the MS-13 gang known as "the witch," has been released from federal custody in San Diego, California, despite facing an active aggravated murder warrant in El Salvador. Aviles Perez was originally arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in April 2026 while in San Diego. He had been held in an ICE detention facility in southern California pending his removal from the United States to serve a 20-year sentence for a 2014 aggravated homicide in El Salvador. However, U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta ordered his release last Wednesday, ruling that federal authorities failed to prove he posed a danger to the community or was a flight risk at a bail hearing. The decision has drawn sharp criticism from law enforcement officials, who described the judge as "activist" and expressed concern over the release of criminal aliens. Aviles Perez has a documented history of violence, including a 2023 arrest in Monterey, California, for assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly swinging a machete at a homeless man. He was previously released under California sanctuary laws. His release coincides with a similar order by another federal judge for Luis Valle, a convicted murderer awaiting removal. Aviles Perez remains at large as of the report date, with an outstanding international warrant for his murder conviction in El Salvador.