Baby dies after relative allegedly choked her; DHS on case

The 8-month-old girl succumbed to her injuries just after midnight Tuesday morning, Police Leesburg Police Chief Thea Pirnat said at an afternoon news conference. The child had received extensive care from first responders and medical experts, she said. Charges that include murder will be filed against the suspect in the strangulation case, Pirnat said. She emphasized that there was no accident, but the child was deliberately murdered.

The Department of Homeland Security earlier on Tuesday said it lodged a detainer request for an illegal immigrant accused of choking an infant to whom he was related. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents asked authorities in Virginia’s Loudoun County to transfer Alvaro Mejia-Ayala into their custody for deportation proceedings.

The infant was allegedly found unresponsive with a white charging cable around her neck on Sept. 17. Mejia-Ayala was charged with strangulation last week but did not appear to have made any public statement about the case as of Tuesday. He remains held without bond, awaiting a Nov. 13 court hearing, according to Loudoun Now, a nonprofit local news source.

Mejia-Ayala, originally from El Salvador, entered the United States illegally in 2016, according to DHS. His immigration case was dismissed last year, allowing him to stay indefinitely without legal status. Local police arrested Mejia-Ayala last year for reckless driving, but released him before immigration authorities could file a detainer, according to DHS.

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