Wife of man shot, killed by ICE agent in Maine makes public statement

The wife of the man who was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Maine spoke publicly about her husband’s death for the first time.

Johan (Joan) Sebastian Duran Guerrero, 25, of Colombia, was killed in Monday’s shooting at an intersection in Biddeford, which is outside of Portland, Maine.

A family friend told sister station WMTW that Guerrero is survived by his wife and their 3-year-old daughter.

Guerrero’s wife, Karolina Rojas Alvarez, made a public statement late Thursday afternoon at The Lincoln Hotel in Biddeford.

Alvarez said she spoke out because she wants people to remember her husband for who he was and not the way he was killed.

Watch Alvarez’s full statement in the video embedded below.

According to Alvarez, Guerrero worked multiple jobs to make sure that his wife and daughter had everything they needed. Alvarez also said Guerrero loved to stay active and hated staying still.

Alvarez said Guerrero was supposed to spend most of the day on Monday with their daughter. In addition, Alvarez said she does not have the strength to tell their daughter that her father is not coming home.

“All I have left are the photos and a blanket with the three of us on it that he gave [our daughter] a few weeks before. My soul is broken. He was everything to me,” Alvarez said. “He never let me worry about anything. I feel so unprotected. I wish I could run into his arms and hear him say: ‘It’s OK, mi flaca, I’m right here.'”

The executive director of the Maine Immigrant Rights Coalition told CNN that Guerrero was on his way to work when he was shot by an ICE agent. According to the coalition, Guerrero was authorized to work in the United States and was issued a Social Security number.

Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told ABC News that Guerrero “illegally entered the United States on Sept. 1, 2023, via the southern border,” and was granted a work permit in May 2025.

It is unclear if Guerrero had a pending asylum case. In some cases, work permits are given to those with pending asylum claims while they are in the country, but Homeland Security said that would not have altered Guerrero’s status of being in the United States illegally.

Related video below: DHS refuses to share name of ICE officer who shot, killed man in Biddeford, Maine

WMTW reports that Guerrero’s sister, Angie Carolina Duran, spoke out from her hometown in Colombia on Wednesday.

“We demand help to clarify what happened and justice, as it’s a huge pain that is affecting our family,” Duran said. “He was a wise guy, he never got into trouble, not here nor there (in the U.S.), so he only commuted from work back to his home, that’s it, he was devoted to his family.”

Benjamin Gideon, an attorney who is representing Guerrero’s family, said a lawsuit is expected to be filed in the future.