A 19-year-old man was detained for the killing of a woman discovered stabbed near a path in the Great Falls area early Monday, according to authorities.
Fairfax County police charged Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos with second-degree murder on Wednesday.
Carmen Lizet Puch, 42, of Reston, Virginia, was a mother to a three-year-old girl.
Cedillos-Campos worked with her at Bitez restaurant in Herndon, according to sources.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said the two had an intimate relationship, but police are still investigating the motivation.
“There are other aspects of that intimate relationship that involve other people,” Davis explained, declining to elaborate.
Cedillos-Campos is being interviewed by police, who say he has confessed to the crime.
Cedillos-Campos was seen on video at the restaurant early Monday arming himself with a huge, fixed-blade knife and taking black latex, gloves, and a water bottle, according to Davis.
“And then off he goes with intent to do harm and kill the victim,” he stated. “Everything was very planned,” Davis stated.
Cedillos-Campos meant to burn the victim, according to authorities.
“He ended up siphoning gasoline from his motorcycle,” Davis claimed. “He filled the water bottle with gasoline after he dumped the water.”
According to Davis, the defendant and victim ended up at Difficult Run Trail Park, where Cedillos-Campos stabbed Puch many times before dousing her with gasoline and unsuccessfully attempting to light her on fire.
“No one deserves to be treated the way that our victim was treated,” Davis stated. “And she was stabbed repeatedly—repeatedly—by our 19-year-old killer.”
Cedillos-Campos is in the country unlawfully, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He is from El Salvador and entered the United States in 2024, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was apprehended by Customs and Border Patrol and then released.
“When our detectives span out and start collecting evidence and interviewing people of interest and talking to friends and family and neighbors and coworkers, they’re not doing that with the immigration status of anyone in their minds,” Davis stated. “They are attempting to figure out what happened. So, when I talk about the responsibility of local law enforcement in America, particularly in Fairfax County, I mean solving crimes for which we are responsible.”
A jogger called police after discovering Puch resting next to her car in a small gravel parking lot near the route around 6:45 a.m. Monday, according to authorities.
Chopper4 footage shows orange crime scene markings on and near Puch’s burgundy Honda Civic.
Investigators eventually towed her Honda Civic from the scene. According to sources acquainted with the inquiry, she was stabbed inside the vehicle.
The parking lot lacks security cameras.
Police are searching for a black automobile suspected of being involved. “It’s a vehicle that our killer could have driven to and from the location,” Davis said. “So, we’re in the process of figuring that out.”
Police encouraged anyone with information to call 1-866-411-TIPS (8477) or leave a tip online.
People who knew Puch described her as soft-spoken and hardworking to support her small daughter.
Abdul Anwari, proprietor of Bitez restaurant in the Village Center at Dulles, said he and Puch’s coworkers were devastated to learn of her death.
“I’m not sure if you can process something like this. It isn’t what you expect. “It’s something no one would ever want to happen,” he told News4. “But you know, we’re still taking it minute by minute.”
Anwari and those who knew Puch describe it as a mystery wrapped in anguish. However, their primary purpose is to assist the young daughter she has left behind.
“We have a GoFundMe account set up, but we’re actually doing it; we are personally donating to the family as well,” Anwari stated. “But anyone in the community that can help, obviously, this is going to go directly to the family, and as far as I’m concerned, it should go to the daughter and make sure that she’s OK.”
Friends said Puch’s family hails from New Jersey and drove down immediately after learning of the tragedy to care for the 3-year-old girl.
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