An illegal alien from Guatemala arrested for allegedly killing a 19-year-old Maryland woman and tossing her body off a bridge will remain in jail without bond.
Hugo Hernandez-Mendez, 35, made his first court appearance Monday in Prince George’s County, Maryland. He was charged Friday with first and second-degree murder in the gruesome death of Da’Cara Thompson of Lanham.
Hernandez-Mendez is accused of killing Thompson last month, but investigators are still piecing together how the two knew each other and what happened in the hours leading up to Thompson’s death. He was arrested and released for DWI earlier this year.
Maryland State Police discovered Thompson’s naked body off a highway Aug. 31, but she was last seen on Aug. 22 and reported missing the next day, according to WJLA 7News and The Washington Times.
Maryland’s WTOP News reported Hernandez-Mendez allegedly drove Thompson to his home in Bowie, Maryland, killed her in the bedroom and then dumped her body off a bridge in a grassy area near Route 50 in Anne Arundel County, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege that Hernandez-Mendez tossed Thompson’s body off the South River Bridge on Route 50, a drop of more than 30 feet, and that her body had numerous fractures, WTOP News reported.
WJLA 7News reported that Hernandez-Mendez is in the United States illegally, which was later confirmed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Hernandez-Mendez was out on bail after a DUI arrest this past April by U.S. Park Police while driving on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
In response to questions from 7News about why Hernandez-Mendez was released by federal officers in the spring, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for Maryland said “no comment.”
DHS also said Hernandez-Mendez had been arrested and charged with driving under the influence in May of 2022, Fox News Digital reported.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced his arrest on social media, adding, “ICE has issued a detainer for this criminal illegal alien and justice will be served for this Maryland family.”
During an interview with Hernandez, ICE officers determined that he illegally entered the United States on an unknown date and location and without inspection or admission by a U.S. immigration official, per WJLA 7News.
ICE’s Baltimore field office has accused Prince George’s County of being uncooperative in handing over illegal immigrants arrested for crimes, The Washington Times reported.
“Prince George’s County endanger the safety of its residents by refusing to honor ICE detainers and releasing criminal illegal aliens back into the community to reoffend,” ICE said in a statement. “We can only hope that’s not the case with Hernandez-Mendez.”
Authorities are still investigating a motive for the killing. Acting Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Tara Jackson said an autopsy is pending, WTOP News reported.
According to reports, in the hours before Thompson’s death, surveillance video shows her parking her SUV and walking into a parking lot near a Family Dollar store in Langley Park.
The video showed Thompson approach a black SUV in the early morning hours of Aug. 23. After speaking to the driver, Thompson is seen getting into the vehicle’s front passenger seat around 3 a.m., according to court documents.
Investigators said Hernandez-Mendez was known to drive the same model SUV with Maryland tags. The driver then drove to a home in the 12000 block of Kembridge Drive in Bowie, where Hernandez-Mendez lives.
Investigators believe he killed Thompson inside his bedroom and then discarded her body off the bridge.
One of the suspect’s roommates told detectives that he heard Hernandez-Mendez having sex with a woman who “did not seem to be having a good time” on the same morning Thompson was last seen, The Washington Times reported.
Investigators said Thompson’s phone had been disabled after she went missing. On Aug. 24, her family located her vehicle, which had her purse inside, in the area of Jasmine Terrace near Hyattsville.
On Sept. 4, police executed several search warrants tied to the case and arrested Hernandez-Mendez after uncovering evidence in the bedroom of the home, police said.
Family and friends of the victim packed Monday’s courtroom for the bond hearing.
Da’Cara Thompson’s mother, Carmen, spoke about her daughter to WTOP News. After graduating from St. Charles High School in Waldorf, she completed a yearlong internship in which she was “very successful,” Carmen said. Thompson worked for a nonprofit as part of a service program for recent graduates.
“She was an outgoing, soft-spoken, kind young lady,” Carmen said, wearing a shirt printed with her daughter’s photo and #JusticeForDaCara. “I just want justice served for my daughter.”
Regarding the fact Hernandez-Mendez was released pending his trial for the DUI case, Thompson’s mother told WTOP News, “It’s very disappointing, finding that out now. Because we may not be here today if they did what they were supposed to do.”
State’s Attorney Jackson said she will move ahead with his first- and second-degree murder charges.
“My concern is to hold accountable people who commit crimes against the residents of Prince George’s County,” she said in the WTOP report. “This office’s primary concern is not the legal status of the defendant, or frankly any defendant.”
Hernandez-Mendez is due back in court on Oct. 8 for a preliminary hearing.
