Alvaro Mejia-Ayala, an illegal migrant, is in custody following the alleged strangulation of his 8-month-old sister in Leesburg, Virginia, raising renewed scrutiny of U.S. immigration enforcement and the handling of criminal illegal aliens.
Leesburg police arrived at the family’s Hancock Place Northeast apartment around 10 a.m. last week after a report of an unresponsive infant.
Officers discovered the baby girl with a white charging cord around her neck. She was transported to a local hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries the following day. Infant
Mejia-Ayala, who is in his early 20s, briefly fled before authorities reached the scene but was apprehended within hours.
Court documents indicate he contacted a friend, admitting he had been “playing with his sister and may have killed her.”
He is being held without bond and faces potential murder charges, with additional counts possible, Law & Crime repots.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a detainer for Mejia-Ayala.
DHS reports that he first entered the U.S. as part of a family unit in 2016 and was released into the interior by the Obama administration.
His immigration case was dismissed in October 2024 under the Biden administration, allowing him to remain in the country unlawfully.
DHS also