The suspect in the fatal stabbing of a Fairfax County mother is an immigrant who was in the country illegally and was released at the southern border during the Biden administration, according to a federal source.
Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos, a 19-year-old national of El Salvador, was allowed into the U.S. in El Paso, Texas, in April 2024, the source told Fox News. Fairfax County Police arrested Cedillos-Campos on Wednesday on charges related to the Monday stabbing death of 42-year-old Carmen Lizet Puch.
Puch was found unconscious with trauma to her upper body just off a trail in Great Falls, Virginia, by a jogger, who then called the police. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Sources familiar with the investigation told NBC Washington that she was stabbed inside her vehicle. Puch, from Reston, was the mother of a young daughter and worked at a nearby restaurant, according to reports.
Fairfax County is among several affluent areas that have seen violent crimes involving individuals who are in the country illegally, some of whom were admitted under the current administration. Earlier this year, 18-year-old Salvadoran immigrant Israel Flores Ortiz, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2024, was convicted of assault and battery for groping underage girls at Fairfax High School.
White House officials have criticized the Biden administration's immigration policies in connection with Cedillos-Campos' presence in the country. A White House spokeswoman told Fox News that the killing was "100% preventable" and that "The Biden administration released this illegal alien MURDERER into our country."
Cedillos-Campos is being held in the Prince George's County jail pending extradition to Fairfax County, where he faces a second-degree murder charge, according to police.