Emma Shafer Murder Case: Arrest, Extradition, Sanctuary Fight

The Emma Shafer murder case centers on the July 11, 2023 stabbing death of a 24-year-old Springfield, Illinois community organizer by her ex-boyfriend, Gabriel P. Calixto, who fled the country, evaded capture for more than two years, and was arrested in Mexico on August 28, 2025. He is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated domestic battery, and as of June 2026 he was still awaiting extradition to face those charges. The case gained national attention in May 2025 when U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem used the crime scene as the backdrop for a press conference attacking Illinois sanctuary policies, drawing a sharp rebuke from Shafer’s family.

What Happened the Night of the Murder

Springfield police were called to a residence in the 1000 block of South Eighth Street on the night of July 11, 2023, after Calixto’s sister told them he had “possibly hurt” Shafer.¹ Officers found Shafer dead inside her apartment. The Sangamon County Coroner determined she had died from multiple sharp force injuries.²

Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright named Calixto, Shafer’s ex-boyfriend, as the suspect within days and issued an arrest warrant charging him with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated domestic battery. Bond was set at $3 million.³ A Sangamon County grand jury later returned an indictment on the same counts.²

Who Gabriel Calixto Is and How He Fled

Gabriel P. Calixto, also known as Gabriel Calixto-Pichardo, was 27 at the time of his arrest. His mother brought him to the United States illegally when he was a child, according to the Illinois Times.⁴ Before the murder, he had a prior kidnapping conviction that resulted in a federal prison sentence, and ICE had issued a detainer for him at the time of that first arrest.⁵

ICE located Calixto in the Southern District of Illinois in January 2021, and in April 2021 the federal government charged him with improper entry under 8 U.S.C. § 1325. A magistrate judge ordered him released under the Bail Reform Act in May 2021, but instead of being freed he was transferred directly into ICE custody for removal proceedings.⁵ The circumstances of his release from immigration custody before the 2023 killing are not detailed in available records.

Investigators believed Calixto left the United States shortly after the murder. Springfield police worked with the U.S. Marshals Service on the search from the beginning.⁶

Arrest in Mexico and the Extradition Wait

On August 28, 2025, authorities announced Calixto had been taken into custody in Mexico.¹ The joint announcement came from the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Springfield Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, the DOJ Office of International Affairs, ICE, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Central and Southern Districts of Illinois.²

Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser said his office was coordinating with federal authorities on extradition.⁷ As of the week of June 20, 2026, Calixto remained in Mexico awaiting extradition.⁸

The Noem Visit and the Sanctuary Policy Fight

On May 7, 2025, while Calixto was still at large, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem traveled to Springfield and held a press conference outside the apartment where Shafer was killed. She was joined by Illinois Republican state senators Chapin Rose, Terri Bryant, and Sue Rezin, along with several families whose relatives had been killed by undocumented immigrants.⁹

Noem used the visit to criticize Governor J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois TRUST Act, a 2017 law expanded in 2021 that limits cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities on civil immigration matters. She called the state’s policies “absolutely disastrous” and said Calixto “should have been deported years ago.”⁸

Several of her claims were disputed. Noem said Calixto was “probably in the state” of Illinois, but Springfield police said they had no reason to believe he was still in the country. She suggested Illinois law prevented local police from sharing information with ICE, but the TRUST Act does not prohibit cooperation in cases involving criminal warrants, and U.S. Marshals had been working the case from the start.⁶ The Chicago Tribune editorial board called her claim that Illinois policies hindered the suspect’s capture false.⁸

Pritzker called the visit a “Trump-Noem publicity stunt” and defended the TRUST Act as “fully compliant with federal law.” His spokesman said the law lets police focus on their duties while encouraging immigrant communities to cooperate with authorities without fear of deportation. The broader federal-state dispute over the TRUST Act remains in active litigation.¹⁰

The Family’s Response

Shafer’s parents, Cathy Schwartz and John M. Shafer, publicly rebuked Noem’s use of their daughter’s name. Their statement read in part: “To see her used by Secretary Noem and others to advance a cruel and heartless political agenda is not just deeply painful to us — it is an insult to her memory. Noem’s words are in direct conflict with who Emma was as a person. Emma built up community and stood with all members, including immigrants.”⁶

Schwartz described the visit as an “exploitation of loss” and an attempt to “drag our pain and heartbreak into the national spotlight.”¹¹ She was in the area protesting on the day of the press conference.⁶

Who Emma Shafer Was

Emma Marie Shafer was born on April 13, 1999, grew up in Springfield, and graduated from Springfield High School. She earned an associate degree in political science from Lincoln Land Community College and a bachelor’s degree in urban studies from the New School in New York City.¹²

She interned for U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, was a fellow in the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, worked as a committee clerk for the Illinois House of Representatives, and organized for the Faith Coalition for the Common Good. At the time of her death she was membership chair of the Sierra Club Sangamon Valley Group and an incoming board member of the Springfield Immigrant Advocacy Network.¹²

She hosted weekly “soup night” gatherings at her home to connect neighborhood advocates and was planning “redlining tours” to educate the community about Springfield’s history of racially discriminatory city planning. Her guiding idea was what she called “Planning to Stay,” the belief that today’s decisions should be driven by their effect on future generations.²

Hundreds attended a vigil at the Old State Capitol Plaza after her death.³ In November 2023, the Greater Springfield Interfaith Association named her its Humanitarian of the Year, the first time it had presented the award posthumously.¹³ Her family established the Emma Shafer Peace and Justice Fund through the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln to support the causes she championed, and the fund drew donations from more than 600 contributors.¹⁴

1
WCIA. Man Wanted in 2023 Springfield Murder Case Arrested in Mexico
2
NPR Illinois. Man Wanted in Connection With the Murder of Emma Shafer Taken Into Custody
3
State Journal-Register. Arrest Warrant Issued for Suspect in Death of Springfield Woman
4
Illinois Times. Exploiting Emma Shafer’s Memory
5
WAND-TV. United States v. Calixto-Pichardo Court Filing
6
WCIA. Emma Shafer’s Family Says Noem Used Her Name to Advance Heartless Political Agenda
7
WAND-TV. Gabriel Calixto Arrested in Mexico for Murder of Emma Shafer
8
Chicago Tribune. Shafer Springfield Murder Immigration Calixto
9
NPR Illinois. In Springfield Visit, Homeland Security Chief Kristi Noem Takes Aim at Gov. Pritzker’s Sanctuary Policies
10
CBS News Chicago. Kristi Noem Springfield Illinois Immigration Sanctuary Laws
11
State Journal-Register. Family of Emma Shafer Felt Exploited by Recent Kristi Noem Visit
12
Staab Funeral Homes. Emma Marie Shafer Obituary
13
State Journal-Register. Emma Shafer and Dr. Wesley McNeese Were Given Posthumous Awards
14
Illinois Times. Emma Shafer, April 13, 1999 – July 11, 2023