An illegal immigrant accused of murdering 19-year-old Da’Cara Thompson in Maryland had an ignored detainer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), officials say.
Hugo Rene Hernandez-Mendez, a 35-year-old Guatemalan national, was previously arrested in May 2022 for “driving under the influence and failure to maintain control of a motor vehicle to avoid a collision,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Daily Caller. Prosecutors alleged Hernandez-Mendez took Thompson home before killing her and throwing her body off a 30-foot bridge, WTOP News reported. (RELATED: JD Vance Issues New Spot-On Statement About Stabbing Tragedy)
An autopsy is pending and investigators have not yet identified a motive, according to the outlet.
Thompson’s father told CBS News she left home around 10 p.m. on Aug. 22 to get gas. Her final text to him read, “I got gas and I’m out. I should be back soon. I love you too. Goodnight.”
She was reported missing the next day, and her body was recovered more than a week later, WTOP News reported.
Court records include surveillance footage showing Thompson in a Family Dollar parking lot around 3 a.m. on Aug. 23. She was seen speaking with another driver before getting into the front passenger seat, the outlet reported.
Thompson’s killing has drawn comparisons to the random stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a North Carolina transit line, which occurred the same day Thompson disappeared.
I wonder how much more interested we’d all be in THIS brutal murder as well.
Because I consider Dacara Thompson’s horrendous culling from this earth at the hands of a filthy fucking illegal to be no different than Iryna Zarutska’s, except for the camera footage being captured.… https://t.co/VOZyzmRm5H pic.twitter.com/6YtIiQJlVR
— Isaiah L. Carter 🇺🇸 (@IsaiahLCarter) September 9, 2025
Debate has focused on the disparity in media coverage and the fact that both Hernandez-Mendez and Decarlos Brown, the suspect accused of stabbing Zarutska on camera, had prior criminal records yet were released.
ICE lodged a detainer against Hernandez-Mendez after his 2022 arrest, but DHS told the Caller that “Prince George’s County historically does not cooperate with ICE.”
“These sanctuary policies endanger public safety by releasing criminal illegal aliens back into the community and put American lives at risk,” the DHS spokesperson said. “We can only hope Prince George’s County will honor this detainer.”
“This criminal illegal alien should have never been in our country. Da’Cara Thompson would still be alive if it weren’t for reckless open border policies,” the DHS spokesperson said.
Hernandez-Mendez is being held without bail and is scheduled to return to court Oct. 8, according to WTOP News.