A Salvadoran immigrant accused in the fatal stabbing of a co-worker near a Virginia trail allegedly killed her after she revealed their affair to his girlfriend, according to a witness who worked with both of them and spoke to police.
Fairfax County prosecutors said in court Monday that the witness, identified as a co-worker, told investigators 19-year-old Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos had voiced an intent to kill Carmen Lizet Puch after she sent his girlfriend screenshots showing proof of their relationship, according to a criminal complaint obtained by WJLA.
The co-worker alleged that Cedillos-Campos took a kitchen knife, latex gloves and a water bottle from the restaurant where they worked before going to meet Puch in the parking lot of Difficult Run Park in Great Falls, roughly 15 miles outside Washington, DC, on Aug. 17.
At about 1:30 a.m., the witness said they overheard Cedillos-Campos setting up the meeting with Puch during a phone call.
Around 4 a.m., Cedillos-Campos allegedly called the same co-worker and said “he did it” before hanging up — a statement the witness understood to mean that he had killed Puch, the complaint states.
Puch, whom officials described as a “loving mother of a 3-year-old girl,” was later found with multiple stab wounds and covered in gasoline. A jogger discovered her beside her 2011 Honda Civic in a small gravel parking lot near the trail and called 911.
Investigators believe Cedillos-Campos siphoned gasoline from a motorcycle and poured it into the water bottle as part of a failed attempt to set Puch’s body on fire after stabbing her “repeatedly,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said.
“We have video footage of our suspect at the restaurant where he worked with our victim, arming himself with a fixed blade knife, taking a pair of black latex gloves, taking a water bottle, and then off he goes with the intent to do harm and kill the victim,” Davis said.
Investigators also found that Cedillos-Campos and Puch worked together at Bitez restaurant — a Halal-focused eatery in Herndon, Va. — and determined the two had been in an “intimate relationship” before the killing.
Cedillos-Campos was arrested in Prince George’s County on Aug. 19.
He allegedly tried to run from officers when police confronted him, prosecutors said, according to WUSA 9.
Davis said Cedillos-Campos confessed to the killing after his arrest and described his actions as “very premeditated.”
Cedillos-Campos appeared in court on Monday and faced a second-degree murder charge for Puch’s death. He is currently being held without bond.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 30, according to court records.
Following his arrest, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Cedillos-Campos had been detained by Border Patrol agents in April 2024 after he illegally crossed into the US near El Paso, Texas, during the Biden administration.
He was taken into custody by Customs and Border Protection but later released — and had been living in the US ever since.
