In January 2023, police in Aberdeen, Maryland, arrested a 17-year-old illegal alien from El Salvador for the brutal sexual assault and murder of 20-year-old Kayla Hamilton in July
2022. Kayla had recently moved to the area with her boyfriend. Law enforcement officials learned that the alien was a member of MS-13, a violent street gang with more than 10,000
members in the United States. This alien had been allowed to enter the U.S. as an unaccompanied alien child (UAC) in March 2022 in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. In March
2022, 14,137 UACs were allowed to enter the U.S., with 7,128 of those UACs entering in the Rio Grande Valley Sector.
Hamilton's boyfriend found her brutally murdered inside an Aberdeen mobile home.
The 20-year-old, who was diagnosed with autism, was raped, tied up, and strangled with a phone cord.
DNA evidence collected from Hamilton's clothing led to a teenage El Salvadorian national named Walter Javier Martinez, whose identity remained under seal until court proceedings.