Exclusive to Fox: A shocking revelation from the Department of Homeland Security suggests that two Texas women, allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant, might still be with us today had circumstances been different. The alleged perpetrator, Luis Fernando Benítez-González, a 26-year-old from Mexico, is accused of ending the lives of 34-year-old Alyssa Ann Rivera in Austin and 28-year-old Alba Jenisse Aviles in Bastrop County, according to authorities.

Benítez-González was apprehended on April 27 in Dallas, thanks to a coordinated effort by U.S. Marshals and various law enforcement agencies. The arrest has brought renewed attention to these tragic cases, occurring six years apart, raising questions about how they could have been prevented.

Lauren Bis, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, commented on the severity of the situation, saying, “This illegal alien from Mexico is accused of murdering two women in Texas.” She also highlighted Benítez-González’s troubled past, noting his previous arrests for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of dangerous drugs.

Images associated with this case, portraying the accused and the victims, have been released by both Getty Images and the Department of Homeland Security. Bis emphasized the tragic loss, stating poignantly, “Alba Jenisse Aviles and Alyssa Ann Rivera should still be alive today.”

“Alba Jenisse Aviles and Alyssa Ann Rivera should still be alive today,” she added.

Benítez-González is charged with first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to jail records in Travis County, where he is currently being held. He also has a previous drug possession charge, according to DHS.

He was connected to the killings through DNA evidence, authorities said.

Aviles was murdered on April 14, 2018; her body was discovered by a passing motorist. She was last seen alive at Club Caribe in Austin with an unidentified Hispanic man. Bastrop County detectives found evidence that Aviles had been dragged, strangled, and assaulted, noting mud on her clothing and feet, bruising on her neck, chin, and lip, and blood on her face and the exterior of her car.

Luis Benitez-Gonzalez has been accused of killing two women and shooting two more who survived. He is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was voluntarily deported in 2020, according to authorities. Austin police believe there may be more victims. (Austin Police Department)

Detectives also found one of her earrings 10 feet away from the vehicle, Fox 7 Austin reported.

Benítez-González told detectives he was defending himself, claiming Aviles attacked him during an argument over drugs. He allegedly admitted to grabbing her by the neck from behind and strangling her for approximately seven minutes.

Rivera’s body was found by Austin police in an abandoned home on June 21, 2024. She was discovered with an extension cord wrapped around her neck. Police also found a bloody rock, bloody handprints, and evidence that Rivera had been forcibly dragged into the house and assaulted.

Alyssa Ann Rivera was killed in Austin on June 22, 2024. (Austin Police Department)

A medical examiner determined Rivera had been struck in the head and nose. Surveillance footage showed her walking with a man shortly before she was killed. In that case, Benítez-González claimed Rivera tried to strangle him with a seatbelt, which he then turned on her, according to reports.

“There was DNA found at both scenes,” APD Sgt. Nathan Sexton said in 2024. “Multiple sources of DNA at both scenes, but the same suspect links back in both cases.”

Alba Jenisse Aviles Marti was killed on April 14, 2018 in Bastrop County, Texas. (Austin Police Department)

The suspect, however, was not in the police database because he had no prior arrest record. In December 2025, Austin detectives were notified of two incidents where a man shot two women in separate attacks weeks apart. Authorities later received a tip that Benítez-González was the shooter and was attempting to sell firearms in an effort to flee the United States.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Dallas Police Department and the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office for further comment.

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Gigi Hadid appears to carry a piece of Bradley Cooper’s presence with her at all times.

On Tuesday, Hadid gave her fans a glimpse of her current necklace ensemble via social media. The ensemble included a striking yellow opal necklace and a gold chain adorned with a personalized dog tag. This particular piece of jewelry paid homage to her relationship with Cooper.

The pendant, subtly lined with diamonds, featured an engraving of the initials “G” and “B,” separated by a heart, symbolizing their connection.

Hadid captioned the snapshot of her jewelry with, “love 🌻 🌻 thank you queen @sheryllowejewelry,” acknowledging the creator behind the exquisite pieces.

Sheryl Lowe, the jeweler based in Montecito, California, and also known as Rob Lowe’s wife of 35 years, re-shared Hadid’s post. She offered a closer look at the intricately designed pendant and highlighted the opal necklace, which fittingly goes by the name Gigi Knotted Necklace, priced at $2,200.

Hadid’s custom pendant retails for $2,995, and was on the jeweler’s link necklace with diamond clasp.

While Hadid and Cooper have yet to make a red carpet appearance arm-in-arm, Cooper quietly joined Hadid inside last week’s Met Gala — choosing to skip the iconic stairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

When interviewed by Vogue on the red carpet, Hadid called Cooper her “happy place” — second to only her daughter, Khai, whom she shares with ex-boyfriend Zayn Malik.

The couple are, however, often seen out and about on date nights and heading to private events and, after more than two years of dating, are apparently heading towards a different piece of jewelry: an engagement ring.

According to a new book, Brigitte Macron’s well-known slap of her husband, Emmanuel Macron, was triggered by a message from Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani found on his phone.

In a video that went viral last May, the French first lady was captured pushing President Macron’s face as they were about to disembark a plane in Vietnam.

At the time, Macron downplayed the incident, describing it as ‘nothing’ and claiming it was merely playful ‘bickering’ with his wife.

However, French journalist Florian Tardif offers a different narrative in his book, “A (Nearly) Perfect Couple,” which aims to explore the ‘forbidden zones’ of the couple’s relationship.

During an interview on RTL radio, Tardif—a Paris Match journalist who has been covering the Macrons since 2017—characterized the incident as a typical ‘couple’s scene.’

‘What happened is that she [Brigitte Macron], saw a message from a well-known figure. An Iranian actress: Golshifteh Farahani,’ he said.

Tardif claims that Macron maintained a ‘platonic’ relationship with the acclaimed star ‘for a few months’, but sent her ‘messages that went quite far’, such as: ‘I find you very pretty.’

Born in Tehran, Farahani is a 42-year-old actress who now lives in exile after refusing to wear a hijab while acting in international films.

Golshifteh Farahani pictured at the Gala Dinner during the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2019

France’s President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron pictured in Athens in April

In the viral video from May last year, the first lady was seen pushing the French president in the face as the couple prepared to get off a plane in Vietnam 

‘That’s what I’ve been told by those close to him, and that’s what I’m saying this morning,’ Tardif said in the interview, insisting he has ‘verified’ the story and that everything in his book is based on ‘facts’. 

These messages caused ‘tension’ within the couple, culminating in a heated and ‘significant’ argument aboard the presidential plane on the tarmac at Hanoi airport, the journalist claimed.

‘This private scene became public because there was a misunderstanding on the plane. We thought the argument was over. It wasn’t,’ he concluded.

Tardif claimed the Elysee actually regretted not being honest about the dispute, ‘simply because they could have shown at that moment that they were a couple, a real couple, not a perfect couple’.

At the time, an Elysee official described the episode as ‘a moment when the president and his wife were relaxing one last time before the start of the trip by having a laugh’.

This is not the first time rumours surrounding Macron and Farahani have surfaced.

The actress has previously dismissed any speculation, however, telling Gala magazine last year: ‘It comes in waves, it appears, disappears… I watch, I observe: what can I do? It doesn’t even bother me. What’s the point?’

She added: ‘The question is why people are interested in this kind of story. I think there’s a lack of love in some people, and they need to create such romances to fill that void.’

In 2008, Farahani became the first Iran-based actor to have a role in a Hollywood film since the 1979 revolution, starring alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Ridley Scott’s CIA thriller Body of Lies.

She was then banned from working in Tehran by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, for not wearing a headscarf at the film’s New York premiere.

In 2011, she was again condemned by the regime after bearing her breast in a short video to promote the Césars, the ‘French Oscars’, where she had been nominated for her role in the immigrant comedy ‘Si Tu Meurs, Je Te Tue’ (If You Die, I’ll Kill You).

The short black-and-white promo had each actor remove an item of clothing as they stared into the camera to commit their ‘body and soul’ to their art. Farahani chose to show her right breast, saying: ‘I will put flesh to your dreams.’

That same day, the Islamic Republic’s official Fars news agency issued a communique attacking her, saying that the pictures showed the ‘hidden, disgusting face of cinema’.

Following the anti-regime protests in Tehran in January, where tens of thousands of civilians were killed by the authorities, she took to Instagram to share her solidarity with her home country.

‘Iran is on fire once again. My heart beats with the people of Iran,’ she wrote.

Born in Tehran, Farahani is a 42-year-old actress who now lives in exile after refusing to wear a hijab while acting in international films

In 2008, Farahani became the first Iran-based actor to have a role in a Hollywood film since the 1979 revolution

She was then banned from working in Tehran by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, for not wearing a headscarf at the film’s New York premiere

Brigitte Macron’s representatives denied to Le Parisien on Wednesday that the scene was linked to the Iranian actress and further emphasised that the French first lady would never check her husband’s phone.

‘Brigitte Macron categorically denied this account directly to the author on March 5, specifying that she never looks at her husband’s mobile phone,’ the president’s entourage said, adding that this detail had not been published by the author.

In April, Donald Trump made a mocking reference to the infamous episode in a speech at the White House, provoking fierce condemnation across France.

‘Then I call up France, Macron – whose wife treats him extremely badly – he’s still recovering from the right to the jaw,’ the US President joked at the White House Easter lunch, eliciting laughter from the audience.

Macron immediately responded, saying the comments about his marriage were ‘neither elegant nor up to standard’.

The joke sparked widespread anger among politicians across the country, including Macron’s critics.

Even Manuel Bompard, coordinator of the hard-Left France Unbowed party, rushed to his defence.

‘You are aware of the extent of my disagreements with the president, but for Donald Trump to speak to him like that and to speak of his wife in such a manner – I find that absolutely unacceptable,’ Bompard told broadcaster BFMTV.

The 25-year age gap of France’s first couple has long sparked spirited debate.

Brigitte, 73, first met Emmanuel, 48, when he was a 15-year-old in her drama class in a Catholic school in Amiens, northern France.

She was 39, married, with a son and two daughters, the eldest of which shared a class with the future president.

In An (Almost) Perfect Couple, Tardif purports to revisit all the major decisions, turning points and controversies that have defined Macron’s nine years in office.

In 2017, at the dawn of his first term, he claims Macron confided to a close friend: ‘If Brigitte is unhappy, I won’t be able to cope and I’ll fail this five-year term.’

Representatives of Golshifteh Farahani did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

A tragic hit-and-run incident unfolded late Tuesday night in Chicago’s West Lawn neighborhood, leaving one man dead. Authorities have confirmed the sequence of events that transpired shortly after 11 p.m. on South Pulaski Road.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Enrique Nieto, the victim, was with his nephew, Cesar Nieto, dealing with a flat tire when the catastrophe struck. Cesar recounted the moment his uncle reached out to him for assistance with the tire on Pulaski, an act of familial support that would soon turn fateful.

Security cameras captured the harrowing scene as the pair worked on the vehicle. An orange Honda SUV barreled northward, striking Enrique while still crouched by the tire, police reported. The driver callously fled the scene, leaving devastation in their wake.

“I was right there, next to him,” Cesar recounted, describing the split-second decision to leap out of harm’s way. Despite his proximity to the back bumper, Cesar managed to avoid the SUV, but tragically, Enrique could not escape in time.

“I was next to him. So I jumped out the way because I was closest to the back bumper and he was by the tire crouched down,” Cesar said.

Cesar told ABC7 Enrique was trapped under the vehicle and was dragged several feet.

He tended to his uncle before an ambulance could get there.

“I was just trying to keep him breathing, talking to him,” Cesar said.

The 53-year-old was rushed to Christ Hospital where he died.

Enrique Nieto leaves behind four children. He lived in Gage Park and worked in construction.

Nobody is in custody.

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