6-Year-Old Bridgeport Girl Found In Pennsylvania After AMBER Alert; Suspect In Custody
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- A suspected killer was in police custody Friday afternoon, after he set off a multi-state AMBER Alert when investigators said he went on the run with his 6-year-old daughter.
The girl, Aylin Sofia Hernandez, was recovered and her father, 39-year-old Oscar Hernandez, was arrested, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The two were found on Interstate 99 near State College, Pennsylvania, according to police.
As CBS2's Lou Young reported, it all started overnight more than 200 miles away at a bloody scene in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Around 2:45 a.m., police responded to a home on Greenwood Street in Bridgeport. There, police said they found two women stabbed repeatedly -- one dead, the other clinging to life.
Oscar Hernandez was named a suspect and a multi-state AMBER Alert was issued for his daughter. Her mother is the woman who died, CBS2's Young reported.
"This was an argument between the parties involved and there may have been some alcohol involved," Bridgeport Police Chief A.J. Perez said.
One neighbor said he saw Aylin playing in the yard Thursday night before sundown.
"They seemed to be very nice people, they're quiet," said neighbor Gary Chapman. "Whenever they have cookouts, they're quiet people. No cursing or throwing bottles or anything and then to see this happen, to hear it, I'm shocked. I couldn't believe it."
Authorities said Hernandez was in a grey or silver Hyundai Sonata that was later spotted in the Bronx before Pennsylvania State Police said the two were believed to be in the Altoona, Pennsylvania area.
It all ended around 11 a.m. when a Pennsylvania State trooper spotted the car on I-99 and tried to pull it over, police said.
"Mr. Hernandez engaged them in a pursuit; He refused to stop for police," said Bridgeport police Capt. Brian Fitzgerald. "He was ultimately taken into custody after Pennsylvania State Police were able to stop and Mr. Hernandez crashes the vehicle."
At one point, police said Hernandez, who was speeding, struck a truck trailer on the interstate, causing a pursing trooper's vehicle to hit the back of the suspect's car. Another trooper's vehicle then slammed into the back of the first trooper's car.
Hernandez and a state trooper were treated for minor injuries after the crash, as was Aylin.
"She has some minor injuries to her head and injury to her leg," Fitzgerald said. "We're making arrangements right now through Connecticut Department of Children and Families to have her safely returned to Connecticut her family."
Until they were summoned to the scene of the horror, Bridgeport police had never been called to the house on Greenwood Street for any kind of domestic disturbance. Records indicate, though, that Oscar Hernandez does have an order of protection against him from a previous relationship.
On Oct. 29, 2013, Hernandez an immigration judge ordered the deportation of Hernandez, a citizen of El Salvador, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was removed from the country by ICE officers the following month, ICE said.
Hernandez has prior felony convictions from 2002 for assault and threatening, and several misdemeanor convictions, ICE said.
The sudden spasm of violence had neighbors huddled in their homes in the hours immediately after the crimes.
"It's scary, it's scary," said neighbor Brenda Burks.
Police said Aylin's mother fought for her life before succumbing to her wounds. Everyone was thinking about the child late Friday.
"It tugs at your heart," Chief Perez said. "You know, here's a 6 year-old. We don't know what she witnessed. We don't know what she saw. We can only imagine."
Hernandez was being held on a murder warrant in Pennsylvania pending extradition proceedings. ICE has also placed an immigration detainer on Hernandez with the Bridgeport Police Department.
The identities of the women killed and injured in the stabbing have not been released.
