Father of Latina ‘Trump girl’ featured on CNN was convicted in cartel murder-for-hire plot

A 24-year-old Hispanic college student who garnered attention from CNN for supporting Donald Trump is the daughter of a Texas man convicted for his role in a murder-for-hire plot, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reported.

The news network profiled Miriam Cepeda on Wednesday, describing her as the daughter of an undocumented immigrant who called herself a "Trump girl" because she backed the Republican presidential candidate's push for a wall along the border between the US and Mexico.

CNN also posted footage of her hosting a "Pachanga for Trump" -- using a Spanish word for "party" -- and telling attendees, "He loves Mexican-Americans, number one. He loves all citizens, all American citizens" while standing next to a piñata made in Trump's likeness.

But the story did not specifically mention Cepeda's father, 60-year-old Jose Luis Cepeda-Cortes, who was convicted last month of for his role in the fatal shooting of Jesus Guerrero Chapa, an attorney for the Gulf cartel in 2013. Cepeda-Cortes and his cousin, 59-year-old Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda, were found guilty of stalking the victim prior to his death.

The video of the "pachanga" also shows Cepeda's brother, Joey Cepeda, railing against the federal prosecutor who handled the case, Joshua Burgess.

"Our father is innocent. You guys are indicting him on some conspiracy charges that were frivolous," he said, adding, "If you look into this, Mr. Trump, you’re going to expose a big trail of what else is going on in this US Department of Justice."

According to the Dallas Morning News, Miriam Cepeda did allude to her father's case as a reason behind her support for Trump in a separate interview earlier this month.

"People need to wake up and realize that the illegal immigrants that are here, that have no other form of self employment, do turn to drugs, do turn to the cartel business, do turn to illegal immigration," she said. "I have family members that are involved in this stuff, and they are in the state jail at this moment, and I would love nothing better but for them to be deported."