Biden-Era Border Release Charged in Virginia Mother’s Murder

A Salvadoran migrant caught at the southern border and released into the United States under the Biden administration is now charged with murdering a Virginia mother, according to police and a federal source cited by Fox News.

Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos, 19, allegedly stabbed 42-year-old Carmen Lizet Puch to death near a popular Fairfax County trail before his arrest Wednesday.

A federal source told Fox News that Cedillos-Campos entered the United States illegally and was caught in El Paso, Texas, in April 2024 — then released into the country.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to NBC Washington that Cedillos-Campos is in the country illegally and came to the U.S. from El Salvador in 2024. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said he had been apprehended by Customs and Border Protection before being released.

“Biden and Mayorkas hand-delivered alleged killer Cedillos-Campos to the streets of Fairfax County,” DHS said in a statement to Fox News. “They recklessly unleashed millions of unvetted illegal aliens into American communities and abused the law to do so.”

DHS added that President Trump and Secretary Markwayne Mullin “have reversed Biden’s deadly catch and release policy.”

Another innocent life has been taken by an illegal alien who NEVER should have been in our nation. @GovernorVA must stop shielding horrific criminals like this and turn him over to ICE so we can DEPORT him from our nation. https://t.co/TLA1ujP3ku pic.twitter.com/hrv7rw4uIu

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) August 19, 2026

Cedillos-Campos faces a second-degree murder charge in Puch’s killing, Fairfax County police said.

He was being held in Prince George’s County, Maryland, pending extradition back to Virginia.

Puch, a Reston resident and mother of a young daughter, was discovered after a jogger called police around 6:45 a.m. Monday.

Officers found her beside her vehicle near Difficult Run Trail. She had suffered trauma to her upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sources familiar with the investigation told NBC Washington that Puch was stabbed inside her vehicle.

People who knew Puch described her to NBC Washington as soft-spoken and hardworking, saying she worked at a nearby restaurant to support her daughter.

Her killing has now become more than a Fairfax County murder investigation.

With Cedillos-Campos’ immigration history coming into focus, the case is also reopening one of the defining fights of the Biden years: what happened after migrants were caught at the border — and who was allowed to remain inside the country.

More over at Fox News:

➡ Full story here: https://t.co/Y7l8QKAFVH

— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) August 20, 2026