After 19-year-old Prince George’s County resident Dacara Thompson was confirmed dead, her accused killer appeared in court Monday and her mother spoke to reporters.
“I just want justice served for my daughter,” Carmen Thompson said.
Her daughter turned 19 shortly before she disappeared and was found dead.
“She was kind of an outgoing, soft-spoken, kind young lady. She was a free spirit. She, you know, was a good girl. She was a good kid,” Carmen Thompson said, wearing a shirt printed with her daughter’s photo and #JusticeForDacara.
The Lanham resident left her father’s home the night of Aug. 22, said she was going to put gas in her car and never returned.
Thompson’s parents frantically searched for their daughter for two weeks. Then a nude body was discovered off Route 50 in Anne Arundel County on Aug. 31. Prince George’s County police confirmed on Friday that the body police found was Thompson’s, and they said Hugo Hernandez-Mendez, 35, was charged with murder.
Hernandez-Mendez was held without bond.
He was living in the U.S. illegally, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
Hernandez-Mendez was arrested by U.S. Park Police months ago. He was stopped on April 25 on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway near Annapolis Road for suspected DUI. The federal government released him pending trial, Prince George’s County officials said. It was unclear why he was not detained by ICE, which Thompson’s mother said could have made a difference in the case.
“It’s very disappointing, finding that out now. We may not be here today if they did what they were supposed to do,” she said.
The U.S. attorney for Maryland would not comment on Friday. ICE released a statement saying the agency lodged an immigration detainer against Hernandez-Mendez on Thursday.
Interim Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Tara Jackson said her office will pursue justice for Thompson. She spoke about public interest in Hernandez-Mendez’s immigration status.
“This office’s primary concern is not the legal status of the defendant or frankly of any other defendant. My concern is to hold accountable people who commit crimes against the residents of Prince George’s County,” she said.
Investigators are working to learn more about the night Thompson was killed. Court documents say surveillance footage shows her park her SUV and walk to a parking lot behind a Family Dollar store in Langley Park. She approached an SUV, spoke to the driver and got into the front passenger seat at about 3 a.m., court documents say.
“For reasons still under investigation, it appears that Dacara willfully entered a vehicle being driven” by the suspect, Prince George’s County Interim Chief of Police George Nader said Friday.
Hernandez-Mendez was arrested near a home on Kembridge Drive in Bowie, where he rented a room. Investigators believe Thompson was killed there.
Detectives said a roommate of Hernandez Mendez told them he heard him in his room the morning of Aug. 23 having sex with a woman who “did not seem to be having a good time.”
Charging documents include tragic details about Thompson’s death and evidence in the case. Investigators found multiple areas of suspected blood in Hernandez-Mendez’s bedroom, including on a mattress, the documents say. A detective found a fake fingernail on the bedroom floor. It matched a nail that was missing on the victim’s finger when her body was found, the documents say.
The documents say detectives went through outside trash bins and allegedly found a white napkin with suspected blood stains and hairs that were consistent with a wig Thompson was wearing.
During a search of the SUV that investigators believe Hernandez-Mendez was driving, investigators found possible blood evidence in the front passenger seat.
Thompson had skull and facial fractures, court documents say. Detectives expect her death to be ruled a homicide. Her exact cause of death was not released.
Thompson was a graduate of St. Charles High School in Waldorf and worked for a nonprofit as part of a service program for recent graduates, Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy said Friday.
“This is a young woman who dedicated part of her young life to serving others, to serving others, and I want that to bring home to all of you that this is a good, good, good young woman who wanted to do good for her community, and now her community will stand behind her family as we seek justice for her,“ she said.
Thompson’s mother asked people who learn about her case to act with kindness.
“There’s been a lot of people disparaging her character on social media and things and such. Please don’t believe everything you see. Please don’t believe everything you hear. Out of respect for the family and us grieving, please approach everything with grace. We would appreciate that,” she said.
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