The Salvadoran illegal immigrant accused of brutally stabbing his co-worker near a Virginia trail allegedly killed her after she exposed their affair to his girlfriend, a witness who worked with the pair told the police.
Fairfax County prosecutors told the court Monday that a witness, identified as a co-worker, told police Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos, 19, expressed his intent to kill Carmen Lizet Puch after she sent his girlfriend screenshots proving they were having an affair, according to a criminal complaint obtained by WJLA.
The co-worker claimed that Cedillos-Campos grabbed a kitchen knife, latex gloves and a water bottle from the restaurant before heading to meet Puch in the parking lot of Difficult Run Park in Great Falls, about 15 miles outside Washington, DC, on Aug. 17.
Around 1:30 a.m., the co-worker overheard Cedillos-Campos arrange the meeting with Puch by phone.
Then at around 4 a.m., Cedillos-Campos allegedly called the co-worker where he admitted that “he did it” before hanging up — which they interpreted to mean he had killed Puch, according to the complaint.
Puch — described by officials as a “loving mother of a 3-year-old girl” — was later found stabbed multiple times and drenched in gasoline, discovered by a jogger who called 911 after finding her lying next to her 2011 Honda Civic in a small gravel parking lot near the trail.
Investigators believe 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,” according to Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis.
“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.
