DHS calls on Spanberger to not release illegal immigrant suspected in woman's killing, turn him over to ICE instead

Illegal immigrant and murder suspect Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos.

The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday called for Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger not to allow the suspect in the grisly stabbing murder of a 42-year-old woman to be released from jail and to instead comply with the ICE detainer that was filed.

"ICE is calling on Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger and Fairfax County sanctuary politicians to cooperate with ICE and commit to NOT releasing this killer from jail. Virginia sanctuary politicians must stop gambling with the lives of American citizens. Enough is enough,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. 

The suspect he's referring to is Alexis Antonio Cedillos-Campos, a 19-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador, who was arrested for the brutal killing of Carmen Lizet Puch. Police in Virginia say Cedillos-Campos and Puch were involved in an intimate relatioship, and say the evidence they've gathered shows he stabbed her repeatedly during the early-morning hours on Monday, and tried to set her body on fire. She was found dead by a jogger who called 911 before 7 a.m. that day. Puch leaves behind a 3-year-old daughter.

Cedillos-Campos was captured in Maryland on Wednesday after he fled across state lines. He's been charged with second-degree murder. “This criminal illegal alien from El Salvador fatally stabbed 42-year-old Carmen Lizet Puch in a park in Virginia after he had been RELEASED into the country by the Biden Administration,” Mullin said, referring to border agents releasing Cedillos-Campos in 2024 after he illegally crossed the border in El Paso, Texas. 

The DHS statement went on to chronicle a litany of crimes committed by illegal immigrants in Virginia this year, including numerous violent crimes and sex crimes involving children under the age of 10. Upon taking over as governor in January, one of Spanberger's earliest acts was to ban state and local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE. 

The situation with illegal immigrants and homicides has been particularly bad this year in Fairfax County. According to Virginians for Safe Communities, Cedillos-Campos is the fourth illegal immigrant charged with murder in 2026.