The 19-year-old suspect accused of killing a 42-year-old mother in Great Falls, Virginia, is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Fairfax County police arrested Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos, 19, in connection with the killing of Carmen Lizet Puch, who was found stabbed to death in a parking lot by Difficult Run Park on Monday.
“Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos is a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador who was arrested by CBP on or about April 15, 2024, after illegally crossing the Biden administration’s open southern border near El Paso, TX,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “After his arrest, he was dangerously RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration.”
The agency spokesperson said they are urging Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) “to put her community first and turn over this criminal illegal alien to ICE.”
The Washington Examiner contacted Spanberger’s office for comment.
Fairfax County police held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss the initial findings of their investigation into the killing. The department officials said the 19-year-old alleged killer and the 42-year-old victim “were known to each other as coworkers and involved in an intimate relationship.”
Fairfax Police Chief Kevin Davis said that Cedillos-Campos left the restaurant, where he worked with Puch, with a fixed-blade knife, a pair of latex gloves, and a water bottle. Davis said the suspect later filled the bottle with siphoned gasoline from his motorcycle and used it to douse Pouch before he unsuccessfully tried to set her on fire.
“We know that when our victim and our killer eventually found themselves at the park — Difficult Run Trail Park — we know that our killer stabbed our victim repeatedly and eventually doused her in gasoline and tried to set her on fire,” Davis said. “He was unsuccessful in the attempt to burn our victim, but we know that that occurred.”
Davis said Puch suffered from “numerous” stab wounds that were delivered in a “brutal, unspeakable way.”
The police chief said that there is “more to learn about the nature of the relationship” between Cedillos-Campos and Puch, but the officials called it “intimate.” Davis did clarify that the suspected 19-year-old killer is not the biological father of Puch’s 3-year-old son.
Davis did not speak to the immigration status of Cedillos-Campos, saying that question is not directly under the purview of the county’s police department, but he said, “I certainly fully understand the immigration question” and emphasized “that conversation’s not lost on me.”
The law enforcement officials are still investigating the killing and the circumstances that led to the two co-workers “intentionally” meeting in the parking lot where Puch was killed.
POLICE ARREST 19-YEAR-OLD FOR DEADLY GREAT FALLS STABBING OF WOMAN
A jogger initially discovered Puch’s body near her 2011 Honda Civic at Difficult Run Park on Monday morning and called 911 at around 6:43 a.m., according to authorities. After officers from Fairfax County’s McLean Police District responded to the call, Puch, from Reston, Virginia, was pronounced dead at the scene.
“We all want to emphasize: Carmen Pooch didn’t deserve this,” Davis said. “She’s the mother of a toddler. We know that that toddler is being cared for by Carmen’s family. Thank God they came down from out of state, and they’re taking care of the toddler, the baby. But we grieve with the Pooch family for Carmen, and we owe it to her to continue to pursue this case.”