Illegal immigrant Javier da Silva allegedly confessed to the murder of 24-year-old Valerie Reyes of Westchester County, New York, whose body was found in a suitcase.

CBS New York reports that the suspect is originally from Venezuela but had remained in the U.S. illegally since the expiration of his visa. He is expected to appear in a White Plains federal court late Tuesday, facing multiple charges.

Reyes was reported missing in January after missing work. Her body was found, bound hand and foot, stuffed into a suitcase and left on the side of a Greenwich, Connecticut, road. “I was praying that wasn’t her in the suitcase. I was praying her family would have her back,” neighbor Brenda DeGiacomo said. “She’s the oldest sibling. To lose your first born, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

Da Silva was in a brief relationship with da Silva, who claimed his mother in Venezuela was dying of cancer. “She said, ‘Mami, his mother has cancer and I want to support him.’ She was an angel like that,” Reyes’ mother, Norma Sanchez said. “Again, he was like really pushy, wouldn’t take no for an answer, and my daughter started getting really frustrated with him, and it ended quick.”

“We are, of course, devastated for my daughter’s death, but I’m just beyond grateful that they found her murderer,” her mother told reporters. “We didn’t think it was going to be this quick, but it’s just a blessing. I kept praying that she would tell me, she would give me hints, a name or something … I just feel so blessed, overwhelmed.”

“We’re just grateful we have someone,” she added. “I promised my daughter we would make justice for her and I’m just so grateful to the authorities, investigators, everybody. I am.”