A 19-year-old undocumented immigrant from El Salvador has been accused of killing a female co-worker with whom authorities say he had an “intimate relationship,” allegedly stabbing her to death before pouring gasoline over her body near a Virginia trail.
Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos was taken into custody Wednesday in connection with the death of 42-year-old Carmen Lizet Puch, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said during a press conference. Puch was remembered as a “loving mother of a 3-year-old girl.”
Police said Puch was discovered Monday in the parking lot of Difficult Run Park in Great Falls, Virginia, roughly 15 miles from Washington, DC. She had been stabbed repeatedly and was soaked in gasoline, according to investigators.
Davis said detectives determined that Cedillos-Campos and Puch were co-workers at Bitez, a Halal-focused restaurant in Herndon, Va., and that the two had been involved in an “intimate relationship” before her death.
Investigators are still trying to piece together the circumstances surrounding the killing, including whether other relationships may have played a role in the motive, the chief said.
“We also know that our killer left the restaurant on the night of the murder with a fixed-blade knife that he took from the restaurant,” Davis said, adding that Cedillos-Campos also took latex gloves and a water bottle from the business.
“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.”
“All very premeditated,” Davis added.
Davis said that Cedillos-Campos siphoned gas from a motorcycle and filled the water bottle in a failed attempt to set her body on fire after stabbing her “repeatedly.”
“The way that she was treated by this killer was reprehensible,” Davis said.
Police said a jogger called 911 after finding Puch lying next to her 2011 Honda Civic in a small gravel parking lot near the trail at around 6:45 a.m.
Cedillos-Campos was arrested in Maryland on Wednesday morning and is awaiting extradition to Virginia, according to Davis.
Davis noted that the 19-year-old has confessed to the killing and is cooperating with the investigation.
Cedillos-Campos was arrested by Border Patrol agents in April 2024 after he illegally crossed into the US near El Paso, Texas, during the Biden administration, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
He was taken into custody by Customs and Border Protection but later released.
“Biden and Mayorkas hand-delivered alleged killer Cedillos-Campos to the streets of Fairfax County,” a DHS spokesperson said.
“They recklessly unleashed millions of unvetted illegal aliens into American communities and abused the law to do so.”
Davis said his detectives are prioritizing interviewing witnesses, friends, family and coworkers and that Cedillos-Campos’s “immigration status plays no role in how they conduct their investigations.”
The investigation into Puch’s murder is ongoing.
Bitez owner Abdul Anwari told NBC Washington he was shaken to learn of Puch’s murder.
“I don’t know if you can process something like this. It’s not something you expect. It’s not something that anyone would ever want to happen,” he told the outlet. “But you know, we’re still taking it minute at a time.”
Puch’s 3-year-old daughter is now being cared for by family after her mother’s death, Anwari said.
Anwari said a GoFundMe account has been created to help cover Puch’s funeral costs and to ensure money goes “to the daughter and make sure that she’s OK.”
