Federal authorities said the 19-year-old man accused of stabbing a woman to death in Fairfax County, Virginia, is an illegal immigrant who came to the U.S. under the Biden administration.
The Department of Homeland Security said suspect Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos is a Salvadoran who crossed the border in El Paso, Texas, in 2024 before being released into the country.
Fairfax County police arrested and charged Mr. Cedillos-Campos on Wednesday in connection with the slaying of 42-year-old Carmen Lizet Puch this week.
“The Biden administration recklessly unleashed millions of unvetted illegal aliens into American communities and abused the law to do so,” the DHS wrote on X. “President Trump and Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin are now enforcing the law, arresting illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country — and have reversed Biden’s deadly catch and release policy.”
Police said a resident was out on a morning run in Great Falls upon spotting the victim lying unconscious at about 6:45 a.m. Monday in the 8800 block of Georgetown Pike.
Ms. Puch’s body was right next to her 2011 Honda Civic in the parking lot adjacent to the Difficult Run Trail, investigators said. Police pronounced her dead at the scene.
Authorities initially said there was “no indication” the killing was random.
On Wednesday, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis confirmed the victim and suspect worked together at a restaurant and had an ongoing romantic relationship.
“There are other aspects of that intimate relationship that involve other people,” Chief Davis said at a press conference.
Officials said Mr. Cedillos‑Campos took a large knife, latex gloves and a water bottle with him when he left the restaurant early Monday.
The suspect then filled the water bottle with gasoline, police said, with which he doused Ms. Puch after stabbing her several times. But investigators said Mr. Cedillos-Campos couldn’t set the victim on fire.
Mr. Cedillos-Campos confessed to the killing when speaking with detectives, police said. He faces second-degree murder charges.
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