Sacramento father of infant girl found dead in L.A. County surrenders at Mexico border
The manhunt for Alexander Echeverria ended Monday with the Sacramento man’s noon surrender at the U.S.-Mexico border, one week after his infant daughter’s body was found in a Dumpster southeast of Los Angeles, Sacramento County Sheriff’s officials announced Monday.
Echeverria crossed the border into the U.S. alongside his attorney, where he was met by FBI agents, fingerprinted, identified and taken into custody, Sacramento County Sheriff’s officials said at a 4 p.m. news conference at Sheriff’s headquarters in downtown Sacramento. His demeanor was described by investigators here only as “cooperative.”
The body of 8-month-old Alexia Rose Echeverria was found the morning of May 27 behind a business in Bellflower, her identity confirmed by Los Angeles County Coroner’s officials. A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s investigation into the grim discovery led them 400 miles to the north to Sacramento and her missing father, the 22-year-old Echeverria, Sacramento County Sheriff’s officials said.
Echeverria, who lives on Requa Way in south Sacramento, has been a “person of interest” in his daughter’s death ever since Los Angeles County Sheriff’s received the 10:37 a.m. call on May 27. Finding Echeverria has been a “top priority” for investigators, Sheriff’s spokeswoman Sgt. Tess Deterding said at the Monday news conference.
Echeverria remains in custody in the San Diego area. Sgt. James Wilcox, supervisor of the sheriff’s Child Abuse Bureau, told reporters that it could be several days before Echeverria is brought back to Sacramento to face charges “related to the death of his daughter.” Wilcox did not elaborate on what those charges might be, saying only that “it doesn’t appear Alexia’s death is natural. It’s not a closed investigation by any means.”
Echeverria also has an outstanding domestic violence warrant out of Sacramento County from “several months ago,” Wilcox said Monday. The sergeant would not say whether the infant’s mother was the target of the alleged abuse.
The day family members reported him missing, they told authorities Echeverria was traveling with the infant Alexia in tow and that he was possibly suicidal. He’d made statements to his family about harming himself in the days before his disappearance, Sheriff’s officials said last week.
Echeverria was reported missing May 27, the same day his daughter’s body was found in the industrial city southeast of Los Angeles.
This story was originally published June 3, 2019 at 3:40 PM.
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