A California man suspected of killing his girlfriend and throwing her body in a dumpster was arrested Wednesday at LAX as he attempted to flee the country, according to police officials.
Amer Saleh Alhasan, 28, of La Habra, faces charges including first-degree murder in the death of Tyanie Ly. Anaheim police officers responded shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday to a dumpster, where Ly’s body was found stuffed into a duffel bag.
Ly, 38, of Santa Ana, was the mother of three small children under the age of 12, investigators said.
Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Wyatt said at a news conference Wednesday that members of Ly's family, who are devastated by their loss, saw news coverage of the body found in the dumpster and contacted police to determine if she was the victim. They identified her body and, once she was identified, detectives developed Alhasan as a suspect in her death.
Investigators caught up to him at the airport, where he had already checked in for a flight to Germany.
“If we were about two to three hours later, he would have been out of the country,” Wyatt said.
From Germany, Alhasan, who is an American citizen, planned to travel to Jordan, where he has familial ties, Wyatt said. Alhasan had a “significant amount of personal belongings” with him at the airport, the sergeant said.
“Bail is at $5 million right now,” Wyatt said. “We are working on an additional enhancement to revoke bail because he is an obvious flight risk.”
Watch the news conference below, courtesy of KTLA.
Wyatt said Ly was killed at a separate location from where she was found but declined to identify the site of her slaying, citing the ongoing investigation. He also declined to say how she was killed.
The sergeant said little is known so far about Ly’s relationship with Alhasan, such as where they met or how long they had been dating.
"We're asking if anybody has information about their relationship, to please call (Orange County) Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS or to forward information by email at www.occrimestoppers.org," Wyatt said.
Wyatt said detectives are also looking for information on Alhasan’s prior dating relationships.
“Our background investigation has determined that there is likely prior events of either domestic violence or sexual assault that we need to track down,” Wyatt said.
Anaheim Police Chief Jorge Cisneros explained that his agency is the home agency for the Orange County Family Justice Center, which he described as an “innovative one-stop shop” for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse or elder abuse.
Cisneros urged anyone who has been abused to reach out to their local law enforcement agency for help.
He also expressed his condolences to those who are mourning Ly.
“Our hearts go out to Tyanie’s children and her family,” Cisneros said. “Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.”
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