Overview

• Officers responded Sept. 17 to a report of an infant not breathing and found an 8-month-old unresponsive with a charging cable around her neck; Alvaro Mejia-Ayala was arrested hours later and charged with strangulation.
• The child died just after midnight on Sept. 24, and police said the killing was a deliberate act with additional charges, including murder, to be filed after forensic results.
• Mejia-Ayala, 22, is being held without bond at the county detention center, and an initial court appearance is expected in November.
• ICE has lodged a detainer requesting that the jail hold Mejia-Ayala for up to 48 hours after any local release so federal authorities can assume custody.
• DHS says Mejia-Ayala entered the U.S. with his family from El Salvador in 2016 and that his immigration case was dismissed in October 2024; court records show he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless driving in February 2024.