The tireless efforts of Anaheim Police Department’s homicide investigators and Crime Task Force Special Investigations Unit have led to the arrest of a man suspected of killing a mother of three and dumping her body in a trash bin.
Amer Alhasan, 28, of La Habra was attempting to flee the country when he was taken into custody at LAX on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 31.
The suspect, who is believed to be a U.S. citizen, was planning to board a flight bound for Jordan via Germany, Sgt. Daron Wyatt said at a news conference on Thursday. Investigators believe Alhasan has relatives in Jordan.
“If we were about two or three hours later, he would have been out of the country,” Wyatt said. “He had already completed his check-in to board the flight at the time he was arrested.”
The body of Tiyanie Ly, 38, of Santa Ana, was discovered about 2:15 a.m. Tuesday morning by a person who’d been searching for recyclables in a dumpster behind an apartment complex in the 2000 block of South Balboa Street.
Ly’s body had been stuffed in a duffle bag.
Alhasan is believed to have been dating Ly when she was killed, but it isn’t yet known for how long or how they met.
There are reports that he may have committed a sexual assault in Jordan and fled that country to come back to the United States recently, Wyatt said.
Alhsan also had been arrested for a prior crime in California but was not charged, the sergeant said.
“Our background investigation has determined that there is likely prior events of either domestic violence or sexual assault,” Wyatt said.
Family members of Ly who had seen media coverage of the homicide contacted police Tuesday and helped officers identify the victim, Wyatt said.
Detectives identified Alhasan as a suspect and worked quickly to arrest him before he was able to leave the country.
“We have an outstanding group of homicide detectives here at the Anaheim Police Department as well as all the other investigative units that have assisted throughout the investigation,” Wyatt said. “They’d been working around the clock, first to identify the victim … and progressing the investigation and then ultimately to the suspect and then locating him at the airport and arresting him.”
Investigators have asked anyone who may have been in a dating relationship with Alhasan or might know anything about the suspect’s dating history to contact OC Crimestoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS or at occrimestoppers.org.
On Friday, Nov. 2, the District Attorney’s Office filed first-degree murder charges against the suspect, who was deemed a flight risk and is being held in lieu of $5-million bail. If convicted, Alhasan faces 25 years to life in prison.