Fleeing illegal alien accused of murdering woman in custody after manhunt, charged with federal weapons violation

VICTORIA, Texas - A 41-year-old illegal alien from Cambodia has been charged with unlawfully possessing a weapon following the shooting death of a woman in Victoria, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

Savin Seng aka "Two-Face" had illegally resided in Victoria and is now in federal custody pending a detention hearing set for Oct. 10 at 10 a.m. At his initial appearance, the court heard that he is an admitted gang member.

According to the criminal complaint, a shooting incident occurred at a residence in the Telferner community outside Victoria Oct. 3. Authorities had allegedly found a female victim deceased from a gunshot wound to the head. The charges allege the shooter had left his cell phone and fled the scene.

An image on the phone showed a man holding a Glock pistol with an extended magazine, according to the charges. The criminal complaint alleges the man was Seng, whom a witness had identified as the murder suspect.

Court documents allege Seng also had an active arrest warrant from 2022 for another homicide in Los Angeles, California.

Law enforcement allegedly located Seng less than a mile from the scene of the shooting and took him into custody. At the time of his arrest, he had a loaded Glock 17, 9mm pistol in his shorts along with a loaded 31-round extended magazine, according to the allegations.

The charges allege Seng had illegally entered the United States as a child and never held lawful immigration status in the country. Court documents allege he had been ordered removed as an aggravated felon in April 2016 but had not been physically removed. He has been in custody in California, Georgia and Louisiana, according to court records.

The criminal complaint further alleges Seng has had possession of many guns while remaining in the United States illegally.

"The presence of armed, illegal-alien gang members in our midst is a threat to public safety," Ganjei said. "The Southern District of Texas is determined to remove each and every one of them from our streets."

If convicted, Seng faces up to 10 years in federal prison as well as a possible $250,000 maximum fine.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of Victoria County Sheriff's Office and Los Angeles, California, Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Patti Hubert Booth is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.