19-year-old arrested in ‘brutal’ stabbing death of coworker in Great Falls, Virginia police say

By Danny Freeman, Holly Yan, Lila Dominus, CNN

(CNN) — Virginia police have arrested a man suspected in the gruesome death of a woman in Great Falls.

Fairfax County police arrested Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos, 19, in connection with the homicide of 42-year-old Carmen Lizet Puch, who was found dead Monday. Federal officials identified Cedillos-Campos as an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador.

The authorities said Cedillos-Campos and Puch were coworkers and also had an “intimate relationship.”

“Our victim suffered numerous stab wounds in a really brutal, unspeakable way,” Police Chief Kevin Davis said at a Wednesday news conference.

“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,” the chief said.

Cedillos-Campos was arrested in Maryland on Wednesday morning and confessed to the killing, according to Davis. He is awaiting extradition to Virginia. It’s not clear whether Cedillos-Campos has an attorney.

Customs and Border Protection arrested Cedillos-Campos in 2024 after he illegally crossed the border near El Paso, Texas, the Department of Homeland Security said.

The suspect’s immigration status brings the United States’ immigration policies under renewed scrutiny. DHS in the past has pointed to violence involving undocumented immigrants to push support for tighter border enforcement.

“President Trump’s border security agenda is restoring order and putting the safety of the American people first. Thanks to his strong leadership and continuing the unprecedented trend of historically low border crossings and apprehensions, we now have the most secure border in history—including 15 consecutive months of zero releases at the border,” DHS said in a statement on Wednesday.

Many researchers crunching the numbers have found there’s no connection between immigration and crime.

Puch was a “loving mother” of a 3-year-old girl, according to police, who noted the suspect is not the child’s biological father.

Puch’s family is currently caring for the toddler.

Puch and Cedillos-Campos “intentionally” met each other ahead of the killing in a remote area of Difficult Run Park off of the larger Georgetown Pike, where there were no cameras or lighting, Davis said.

A jogger initially called 911 Monday morning after finding Puch’s body outside her car with fatal stab wounds. When police arrived they saw the victim had also been “doused in gasoline,” authorities said.

Police said Cedillos-Campos had siphoned gas from his motorcycle and put it in a water bottle ahead of time.

“No one deserves to be treated the way that our victim was treated and she was stabbed repeatedly – repeatedly – by our 19-year-old killer,” said Davis.

“The way that she was treated by this killer was reprehensible to say the least.”

People who frequent the park and trail told CNN affiliate WJLA this week they were stunned at the news of the initial attack, describing the area as a safe and calm place to hike and swim.

High-profile cases fuel the immigration policy debate

Several high-profile cases involving undocumented immigrants have reignited the national debate over immigration policy.

In 2024, Jose Antonio Ibarra, an undocumented migrant, killed nursing student Laken Riley as she jogged on the University of Georgia campus. After Ibarra was sentenced to life in prison, several Republican leaders highlighted the case to support their calls for tighter border security.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp slammed the immigration policy under President Joe Biden at the time, saying Ibarra should have not been allowed to enter the United States.

President Donald Trump’s return to the White House came with a wave of anti-immigration policies, which escalated after an Afghan migrant allegedly shot two National Guard members – one of whom later died – in DC last year.

The Trump administration announced a handful of policy shifts aimed at stemming migration into the US, including a pause on asylum decisions, a review of cases under the Biden administration and a “reexamination” of certain green-card holders.

Then last December, Oscar Solarzano, an undocumented immigrant who had previously been deported from the US twice, was charged in a stabbing incident on on the light rail service in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The assault came two weeks after the conclusion of Operation Charlotte’s Web, the immigration enforcement crackdown carried out by the Trump administration in Charlotte that DHS said resulted in hundreds of arrests.

More recently, Trump renewed the focus on the immigration debate when he shared shocking surveillance footage of a deadly hammer attack in Florida. Officials charged a Haitian national with murder in connection with the attack.

Trump called the attack the result of immigration policies under Biden and reiterated inflammatory rhetoric associating immigrants with crime, the latest in a yearslong campaign to use certain killings as apparent evidence for stricter border enforcement.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Catherine E. Shoichet, Taylor Galgano, Michael Williams, Priscilla Alvarez, Nicole Chavez and Alex Stambaugh contributed to this report.