On the night of Thursday, July 30, 2026, violence erupted inside a Riverdale Park, Maryland, apartment, leaving a 44-year-old man, Dolores Leiva Hernandez, dead from gunshot wounds. Police were called to the 5400 block of Kenilworth Terrace around 10:15 p.m. following reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, they discovered Hernandez inside an apartment, having sustained fatal injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The investigation into the homicide was taken over by the Prince George's County Police Department's Homicide Unit, as is standard for incidents occurring within the Town of Riverdale Park.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, authorities quickly identified and apprehended a suspect. Noe Castillo-Mendez, a 34-year-old resident of Riverdale Park, was taken into custody shortly after the incident. Detectives subsequently charged him with second-degree murder and other related offenses. Preliminary investigations revealed that Castillo-Mendez and Hernandez were acquainted with each other, though the specific circumstances and motive that led to the deadly confrontation remain under investigation by law enforcement. Authorities have encouraged anyone with information relevant to the case to come forward and speak with detectives.
The case gained further attention when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security commented on Castillo-Mendez's immigration status. Federal officials stated that he was in the country illegally and had a prior arrest in 2025 on drug possession charges. According to a DHS statement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement had issued a detainer for Castillo-Mendez following the 2025 arrest, but he was released from local custody. This development has injected the ongoing national debate over immigration policies and "sanctuary" jurisdictions into the local homicide case. While the criminal proceedings against Noe Castillo-Mendez for the murder of Dolores Leiva Hernandez are just beginning, the case now sits at the intersection of local crime and national political discourse.
