A Mexican national, Cristian Mitchel Mondragon Gonzales, 30, was sentenced on August 14, 2025, to 34 years in prison for second-degree murder and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. This sentence follows a previous conviction in 2020, where he received a 10-year sentence for possessing a firearm as an illegal alien. The sentences will be served consecutively.
Court records show that the incident occurred on September 23, 2018. After an altercation at their shared residence following a party, Mondragon Gonzales sought out the victim and convinced him to go for a ride. He drove the victim to the Natchez Trace Parkway where both exited the vehicle. Mondragon Gonzales then shot the unarmed victim multiple times and took his identification. The body was discovered by a passerby the next morning. Despite lacking identification on the victim, law enforcement identified both individuals within 24 hours.
Mondragon Gonzales pled guilty on October 1, 2019, to possessing a firearm as an illegal alien and was sentenced on August 25, 2020. On November 14, 2024, he pled guilty to second-degree murder and related charges.
Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Lemon of the Southern District of Mississippi and Robert Eikhoff, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Jackson Office announced the sentencing.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Natchez Trace Parkway Police, and Ridgeland Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bert Carraway prosecuted.
This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline), which coordinates resources from various Department of Justice programs such as Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) to address illegal immigration and violent crime across communities nationwide.
