Dacara Thompson was a 19-year-old Maryland woman who left home one night in late August to get gas. When she didn't return home, her family reported her missing. On Sunday, Thompson's body was found in a wooded area off of a highway in Prince George's County on August 31.
Police arrested Hugo Hernandez-Mendez, a 35-year-old man in the country illegally, in conjunction with her death. Now, more details of the crime are being made public.
GRAPHIC DETAILS: Criminal illegal alien released under sanctuary city law brutally murdered Maryland teenager, thew her body off a bridge pic.twitter.com/JtaujVPANA
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 7, 2025
Investigators said surveillance footage showed Thompson approaching a black SUV in the early morning hours of Aug. 23. After speaking to the driver, she entered the vehicle.
Police said the SUV went to a home in the 12000 block of Kembridge Drive in Bowie, where evidence indicates she was killed in a bedroom.
Hernandez-Mendez allegedly had access to the SUV and lived in the bedroom where the killing occurred.
Thompson's murder is the latest in a series of homicides committed by illegal immigrants. President Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration a main plank in his 2024 campaign platform, vowing to deport criminal illegal aliens and shining a spotlight on the murders of Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray.
Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia when she was assaulted and killed by Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. In November 2024, Ibarra was found guilty of multiple charges, including three counts of felony murder, aggravated assault with intent to rape, and false imprisonment. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Nungaray was 12 years old when she was sexually assaulted and strangled by two illegal immigrants from Venezuela. Her body was found in a North Houston creek. Johan José Martínez-Rangel and Franklin José Peña Ramos were arrested in June of last year in connection with the murder. Both are charged with capital murder, kidnapping, and aggravated sexual assault.
The suspects in all these cases were not only in the country illegally, but had prior contact with law enforcement, only to be released back into the community.
Carmen Thompson, Dacara's mother, described her as an "outgoing, soft-spoken, kind young lady" and a "free spirit." Thompson was upset to learn her daughter's killer was in the county illegally, saying, "We may not be here today if they did what they were supposed to do," before concluding, "I just want justice for my daughter."