Illegal Alien Stalked and Executed Sacramento Woman at Panera Bread Was in the Country Illegally

The illegal alien who stalked and executed a Sacramento woman at Panera Bread this week was in the country illegally, courtesy of the Biden administration’s open border.

According to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and a Department of Homeland Security statement issued Friday, 22-year-old Rohit Rohit, an Indian national, illegally crossed the border into Arizona in August 2023, was arrested by Border Patrol, and was later released. He then lived in the Sacramento area, KCRA reported.

On September 8, 2026, after months of stalking 38-year-old Shalini Thakur, including hiding an AirTag on her car, entering her apartment, deflating a tire, leaving items at her door, and violating a restraining order she obtained in May, he confronted her in a Panera Bread parking lot on Howe Avenue, chased her, shot her multiple times, and fired a close-range shot to the head as she lay on the ground. He then fled and died by suicide during a Highway 50 standoff with deputies a short time later, according to KCRA and the Sheriff’s department.

DHS described him as an “illegal alien from India” whose case remained pending in immigration court with no hearings scheduled.

But it was California sanctuary policies that limited coordination between local law enforcement and ICE after the restraining-order violation. The victim’s mother has publicly said authorities failed to protect her daughter despite the documented pattern of stalking and threats.

How sanctuary policies impacted this case

Senate Bill 54, authored in 2017 by Democrat Sen. Kevin de León and signed by Democrat Governor Jerry Brown in October 2017, prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from using resources to assist federal ICE immigration enforcement, with few exceptions for serious crimes.

This law didn’t set well with all sheriffs. Amador County Sheriff Gary Redman was the first sheriff in California to publicly state that he was cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement when dealing with criminal illegal aliens. Redman told the Globe in 2025 that because of Senate Bill 54, law enforcement’s hands are tied on how they address illegal aliens who commit crimes, but there are legal ways to make sure that the public is protected.

SB 54 restricts state and local law-enforcement agencies from using their resources to assist federal civil immigration enforcement, which includes limits on notifying ICE about a person’s presence or immigration status, honoring detainers in most non-serious cases, and sharing certain personal information. Sacramento has additional city and department policies that reinforce the same approach.

Shalini Thakur obtained a civil harassment restraining order against Rohit Rohit in May 2026 after months of stalking.

On July 29 he violated the order by leaving groceries at her door. Deputies documented the violation.

Under SB 54 and local policy, that civil-order violation did not meet the narrow exceptions that would have allowed (or required) notification to ICE or a transfer of custody. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli and DHS have stated that local officers therefore did not alert federal immigration authorities, according to the CA Post. 

According to federal officials, a known illegal-alien who already had an active immigration case and a documented pattern of harassment, remained in the community instead of being taken into ICE custody after the July violation. Shalini Thakur’s murder occurred six weeks later.

SB 54 defies federal immigration law by permitting, abetting and harboring illegal aliens. Is this what Democrats and Governors Brown and Newsom wanted?

SB 54 does contain exceptions for certain serious or violent felonies and for people already in criminal custody on qualifying charges. A civil restraining-order violation for stalking typically does not trigger those exceptions on its own.

DHS and US Attorney Essayli argue this gap left a high-risk individual on the street. Supporters of the law note that the initial 2023 border release was a federal decision, that local agencies still investigated the stalking as a criminal matter, and that the statute was designed to keep local police focused on state crimes rather than federal civil immigration work.

All of this talk about federal immigration laws versus state enforcement and cooperation allowed a 38-year old woman to be repeatedly stalked and then brutally murdered.

Sacramento County deputies did not contact ICE after Rohit’s July violation of the order because of California’s multiculturally sensitive sanctuary state laws, which only seem to benefit illegal aliens, prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from using resources to assist federal ICE immigration enforcement.

Yet A 38-year old woman was repeatedly stalked and brutally murdered. Should Shalini Thakur’s family care that her death is a direct result of California’s multiculturally sensitive sanctuary state laws? Yes, and we all should.