Melody Waldecker, Silver Spring, Maryland grandmother killed in carjacking gone wrong after she tried to stop car thief, Jose Aguilar-Martinez since identified as an illegal immigrant hailing from El Salvador.
A 21 year old illegal immigrant is accused of killing a Virginia woman in a carjacking gone wrong after the victim was run over by her own car as she attempted to stop the car thief as he fled the scene over the weekend.
Jose Aguilar-Martinez, 21, was charged over the fatal Sunday encounter that resulted in the death of 54-year-old Melody Waldecker, a grandmother hailing from Silver Spring, Maryland, FOX 5 DC reported.
The suspect was described as as an El Salvadoran national living in the United States illegally, immigration authorities said.
Fatally truck by her own vehicle as grandmom tried to stop car thief
A criminal complaint stated Waldecker, a mother of four and grandmother of eight, had left her car running when she stopped at a 7-Eleven convenience store at a Sterling shopping center just after 11:30 a.m., the Loudon Times reported. At some point, she saw a man get into her vehicle and ran out, trying to open the driver’s side door.
The thief slammed the door shut and backed up.
‘Melody hung on the vehicle, but fell to the ground and the vehicle ran her over,’ the complaint stated.
Investigators determined she was struck by her own vehicle as the suspected carjacker fled the scene. The grandmother was determined deceased at the scene.
Aguilar-Martinez who hit two other vehicles as he fled and was found and arrested about 45 minutes later. He was taken to a local hospital after appearing to have an unrelated medical condition, NBC4 reported.
Aguilar-Martinez was charged with carjacking and ordered held without bond at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center in Virginia, according to a news release from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.
‘Gotaway’ illegal immigrant
Police said additional charges are ‘anticipated.’
The Times reported Waldecker worked at a nursing home in Rockville, Maryland and had been visiting her mother prior to the carjacking.
Aguilar-Martinez entered the U.S. as a ‘gotaway’ at an unknown date and location, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) according to Fox News.
ICE has placed a detainer request for him to be handed over to immigration authorities upon his release from local custody.
Some so-called ‘sanctuary’ cities and counties routinely ignore such requests and release illegal immigrants accused of crimes onto the streets, Fox News reported.
