Federal agents want to keep a Houston teen locked up. ICE placed an immigration hold on him in late July. His name is Jefferson Velasquez. He is 18 years old. He is charged with murder in two Houston shootings.

A judge already said no to bond on one of the murder charges. Velasquez is from El Salvador. He sits in the Harris County Jail right now. He has not been found guilty of any crime yet.

The two killings happened months apart. Both came after fights at big parties, police say.

The first killing was on August 30, 2025. About 200 people were at a party on Waldine Street in the Cloverleaf area of East Harris County. A fight broke out. Someone shot and killed Angel Garcia. He was 17. Police also charged a second man in that case. His name is Enrique Aguilar. He is 19.

The second killing was on April 27, 2026. It happened outside the Diosa nightclub on Milam Street in Midtown Houston. Police say a fight inside the club spilled into the parking lot. It was about 2 a.m. Shots rang out. Noah Ramirez died at the hospital. He was 27. Two other men got shot too. They lived.

Police called both cases murder. Both charges now sit in the 174th Criminal District Court in Houston.

Police say Velasquez also robbed people at these parties. They say he and others took jewelry and gold chains from the crowd.

Prosecutors charged Velasquez with the first murder in June 2026. They added the second murder charge in late July. He also faces charges for robbery and for carrying a gun illegally. His bonds add up to $800,000. But that number does not matter for the murder charge. A judge already said no to bond on that one.

On July 31, Judge Hazel Jones said no to bond on the nightclub murder charge. Prosecutors want him to stay in jail until trial. The next court date is August 10. During the hearing, Velasquez seemed to smirk at people he knew in the room.

His lawyer works for the court. He said he is not ready to talk about the new murder case. He said he is still waiting for evidence from prosecutors.

Noah Ramirez's father is named Jesus Ramirez. He talked about his son's death. "I just want justice for him," he said. "I just don't understand why they did what they did."

ICE says Velasquez came to the country illegally as a child in 2014. The agency wants Harris County to call ICE before it lets him go. That way, agents can pick him up first.

A top official at the Department of Homeland Security spoke about the case. Her name is Lauren Bis. "This criminal illegal alien has been charged with TWO counts of murder after two fatal shootings in Houston," she said. She also blamed old border policy from the Obama years for letting him stay in the country.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said many young witnesses left the August 2025 party fast. Deputies could not talk to them before they left. That made the case harder to build.

An ICE detainer is a request, not an order. It asks a jail to hold someone a bit longer or to call ICE first. That way, ICE can pick the person up if local charges end or if he makes bond. Some Texas counties honor these requests. Others push back on them.

For now, Velasquez stays in jail. Neither murder case has gone to trial. Both families wait for answers. The next hearing is set for August 10.