The mother of murdered Maryland woman Kayla Hamilton is calling out Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who referred to her daughter as a “random dead person” during a debate on a bill named in Hamilton’s honor.
“You just don’t call a victim of a crime, just a random dead person. No victim should be referred to as a random\ dead person,” said Tammy Nobles on “Fox & Friends First.”
“What she said was really nasty, and it came across as racist.”
Crockett, D-Texas, made the comments earlier this month during a House Judiciary Committee debate on the Kayla Hamilton Act.
Kayla Hamilton, who was murdered by an illegal migrant in 2022, celebrating her birthday. Hamilton was 20 years old when she was sexually assaulted and strangled in 2022 by a teenager from El Salvador who was in the country illegally and later identified as an MS-13 member.
“You take a situation, and then you exploit what has happened to not only that person, but you exploit those families, and you make it a game,” said Crockett during the hearing.
“Stop just throwing a random dead person’s name on something for your own political expediency.”
Before making the remark, Crockett argued that Republicans were ignoring victims of other crimes, including those connected to Jeffrey Epstein.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett addresses FBI Director Kash Patel during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on September 17.
Nobles said she was “furious” when she heard Crockett’s comments about her daughter, remembering Kayla as a “happy and energetic child.”
Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler, who worked on the case, also condemned Crockett’s remarks on “Fox & Friends First.”
“Kayla was important. Her life mattered. And for Congresswoman Crockett to be so dismissive, so insensitive to a crime victim, any crime victim, it just speaks to the character of who we’re electing from some jurisdictions around this country,” he said.
“‘Pathetic’ is the best word I have for it.”
The Kayla Hamilton Act would close “dangerous loopholes” in the federal government’s handling of unaccompanied migrant children, according to Republican Rep. Russell Fry, who introduced the act.
Tammy Nobles, whose daughter was killed, speaks at a Justice Department press conference where U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced new legal action on immigration enforcement on February 12, 2025.
The bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct additional screenings of illegal immigrants.
HHS would have to check for gang tattoos, conduct background searches in a migrant’s country of origin, and vet potential sponsors.
Nobles has endorsed the bill, saying it could prevent future tragedies. She said the bill would protect both American citizens and migrant children from gang activity or from being placed with unfit caregivers.
“It’s very important to protect the children.”
