It seems bizarre to me that a person with diplomatic immunity could commit a crime, even kill someone in the U.S. and not be prosecuted.
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Diplomatic immunity is a principle under international law that says that, for the most part, diplomats cannot be arrested or prosecuted for crimes they commit while working in other countries. Exactly who gets diplomatic immunity and how much immunity they get is governed by the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Immunity, which has been signed by all but 2 UN recognized countries. Generally speaking, diplomats and their immediate families get immunity. Ambassadors get the highest level, while consular officers and other diplomatic staff get some lesser level of immunity.
The idea is that diplomats need to be free from possible reprisal to be able to do their jobs. For example, 2 countries that are hostile to each other or even at war with each other need to know that their diplomats are safe in the other country in order for diplomacy to happen. Otherwise, you could wind up a situation where one country arrests another country’s diplomat as diplomatic play, which could result in tit-for-tat spiraling into a crisis.
Diplomatic immunity is not absolute. It can be waived by the diplomat’s home country. Your example of a diplomat killing someone and not being prosecuted is rather extreme. In that case, and in any case where a diplomat is accused of a particularly egregious crime, it’s globally expected that the diplomat’s home country would waive immunity which would allow the diplomat to be arrested and prosecuted like anyone else, and it’s happened before. The diplomat can also be expelled from their host country and arrested and prosecuted back home.
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