An illegal alien accused of violently attacking a mother and her three-year-old daughter in a San Antonio park is facing multiple charges after authorities say the encounter escalated into a brutal assault that left the child hospitalized.
According to a preliminary police report, Atharva Vyas approached Gabriella Perez and her daughter Amelia as they exited a restroom at Espada Park on April 18 before suddenly launching an attack.
Police said Vyas lunged at Perez, grabbed her by the hair and punched her in the jaw. As she tried to protect her child, Perez pulled Amelia to the ground, but Vyas jumped on top of her.
“He hit me. He was a big man,” Perez told KSAT. “I just remember laying there and looking for [Amelia].”
🚨BREAKING: Crazed Illegal Alien—Atharva Vyas—arrested in San Antonio TX for an unprovoked attack, punching a mother in the face, then ripping her 3-year-old daughter out of her arms, biting & then eating the child’s face.
This attack is straight out of a horror movie. pic.twitter.com/Thu4YZBo1A
— Dapper Detective (@Dapper_Det) April 23, 2026
Perez said Vyas attempted to gouge at her eyes during the struggle.
“He tried poking at [her] eyes with his thumb,” she said. “I just see him on top trying to do the thumb.”
During the attack, Vyas then turned toward the child and bit Amelia’s face, pulling out her two front teeth, according to Perez.
She described the incident as resembling something out of a “zombie movie.”
Bystanders quickly intervened, pulling Vyas off the child and restraining him until police arrived.
Perez credited the witnesses who stepped in to help, calling them “selfless.”
She said multiple people rushed toward the scene as she screamed for help.
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“I was screaming ‘Shoot him! Shoot him,’” she told the New York Post.
Perez said two witnesses drew firearms while another called 911. No shots were fired, but those at the scene beat Vyas until he collapsed on the ground.
Amelia was taken to the hospital after the attack. Perez said her daughter suffered severe facial injuries.
“The attacker targeted both of us, and my daughter suffered severe injuries to her face,” she wrote in a GoFundMe campaign.
24 year Hindu Gujarati immigrant from India Atharva Vyas was arrested for assaulting a 27 year old woman and her 3 year old daughter in San Antonio, TX.
This animal not only beat the mother & child, but also viciously bit the face of the 3 year old girl! #texas #DeportThemAll pic.twitter.com/g7V5jTPC9W
— Cruella de Vil (@MalluChique) April 22, 2026
Perez added that Amelia has required “constant care, comfort, and reassurance” since being released.
The child is now too afraid to return to daycare or be left with anyone other than her parents, according to her mother.
Authorities arrested Vyas at the park and booked him into the Bexar County Jail.
Court records show his bond was set at $20,000. He faces charges including injury to a child with intent to cause bodily injury, assault causing bodily injury and illegal entry from a foreign nation.
He is scheduled to appear in court for arraignment on May 15.
Police said the motive for the attack has not been determined and remains under investigation.
Records show Vyas entered the United States on an F-1 student visa in August 2023.
Authorities said he was arrested for felony assault at the University of Texas campus three months later.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the Biden administration did not revoke his visa at the time, determining the earlier offense was not “egregious” enough to warrant action.
His visa was later revoked in April 2025 following the earlier arrest.
The case has drawn attention alongside other recent incidents involving suspects accused of being in the country unlawfully.
In Missouri, federal authorities are urging officials not to release a Honduran national accused of r-ping and kidnapping a woman during Easter weekend in Kirksville.
The Department of Homeland Security said Cristian Lopez-Gomez entered the United States in April 2024 and was released into the country before the alleged attack.
Authorities said Lopez-Gomez remains in custody at the Adair County jail, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer to prevent his release.
DHS urged cooperation between local law enforcement and federal authorities.
“When state and local law enforcement work with ICE, we can safely remove criminal illegal aliens from our country and put the safety of American citizens first,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said.
Officials have not released additional details about the alleged assault.
In Florida, another case involves an illegal migrant accused of killing a woman in a hammer attack outside a gas station in Fort Myers.
Authorities said the suspect entered the United States in August 2022 and was later released despite a removal order.
DHS said the individual was granted Temporary Protected Status, which later expired.
Officials said the suspect struck the victim multiple times in the head with a hammer in an attack captured on surveillance video.
The victim, identified as Nilufa Easmin, was working as a clerk at the store at the time.
According to reporting cited in the case, the suspect later told detectives he went to the location intending to kill her.
“He went to the gas station specifically to kill the victim,” the report stated.
DHS said Immigration and Customs Enforcement has lodged a detainer and that the suspect will be deported following the case.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier criticized the circumstances surrounding the case.
“This horrific murder was preventable,” he wrote on X. “Four years of the Biden admin’s open-border policies continue to wreak havoc on our communities.”
