Inset Alvaro Mejia-Ayala (Leesburg Police Department). Background: The apartment complex where Mejia-Ayala is accused of strangling his infant sister in Leesburg, Va. (Google Maps).
A Virginia man is behind bars after strangling his infant sister with a charging cord, authorities say.
Alvaro Mejia-Ayala, aged 21, faces charges of strangulation, a felony, as per the Leesburg Police Department. The infant girl was discovered on Wednesday with a white USB charging cord around her neck and was quickly taken to a nearby hospital for emergency care.
The child survived the attack but remains in critical condition, according to law enforcement.
The incident occurred at an apartment on Hancock Place Northeast in Leesburg, a medium-sized town in the Washington, D.C., metro area.
Police were called to the scene around 10 a.m. on Wednesday following reports of an infant not breathing. It was soon ascertained by investigators that the child had been attacked, with Mejia-Ayala identified as the suspected assailant who fled the location before law enforcement’s arrival, as reported in court documents obtained by Washington, D.C.-based Fox affiliate WTTG.
Subsequent to the incident, the suspect allegedly reached out to a friend requesting a ride, admitting he was “playing with his sister and may have killed her,” as stated in one of the court documents.
A public alert was issued seeking assistance in apprehending the suspect, who was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and grey pants with a black stripe. Initially, authorities described him as “a person of interest in an aggravated assault investigation.”
The arrest occurred around 3:18 p.m. that same day, following a search that lasted approximately five hours, with support from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, as mentioned in a press release. Despite the time lapse, Mejia-Ayala did not manage to travel far. He was detained on the 100 block of Meadows Lane Northeast, merely a 15-minute walk from his family’s apartment.
Police say the investigation is ongoing and that additional charges are likely to be filed against Mejia-Ayala in the days to come.
No motive for the strangulation has been floated as of this writing.
The defendant is currently detained in the Loudoun County Jail without bond. He is slated to appear in court on Nov. 13.
