Who was there helping her? Charge them with felony murder.
That will be the day!
“ Her partner remains in Border Patrol custody”
Felony murder.
We don’t even need to worry about a felony murder rule. An attempt to bring a person into the US illegally resulting in death is a capital offense under 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(B)(iv). DOJ does seek the death penalty when prosecuting this offense, and did so even during the Obama Administration.
I remember a case in 2015 where a woman trying to swim across the Brownsville Shipping Channel at night was killed when a Coast Guard boat hit her. The coyote (who I think was her cousin) was arrested and charged under section 1324, and the Obama DOJ sought the death penalty. He ultimately plea-bargained to a long sentence (I don’t remember, but it might have been life).