Illegal migrant ‘cannibal’ attacks 3-year-old — and the Biden admin fumbled ‘completely preventable’ assault: DHS
ByJeanne Erickson
Published April 25, 2026, 5:30 a.m. PT
An illegal migrant maniac allegedly high on a powerful drug chomped on a toddler’s face in Texas last week, two years after the Biden administration failed to kick him out of the country despite his arrest in an earlier violent assault, authorities told The Post.
The horrific April 18 attack in a San Antonio park left 3-year-old Amelia Perez with deep scratches and bite wounds across her face, two teeth knocked out, and life-changing trauma, her family said.
“That brute was ravaging my baby!” mom Gabriella Perez, 27, told The Post. “She’s terrified to sleep. She’s lashing out, angry. She doesn’t understand evil like this f–king man. She’ll never be the same again.”
The terrifying attack left bloody bite marks on three-year-old Amelia’s face. GoFundMe
Amelia Perez smiles while fishing minutes before the monster entered her life. GoFundMe
That Saturday, the family — Perez, little Amelia, her father Xavier Estrada, 27, and grandfather Richard Ariaza — headed from their home in LaCoste to Espada Park for a quiet afternoon of fishing for the bass, catfish and sunfish.
At around 2 p.m., Gabriella took Amelia to the restroom, and when they stepped back outside, a man in a frenzied state charged toward them, said Perez.
The man, identified by authorities as Atharva Vyas, a 24-year-old illegal migrant from India, lunged, grabbed the mom’s hair and punched her in the jaw.
Perez quickly lowered her daughter to the ground to remove her from the fray, but the lunatic leapt on her child, she said.
After good Samaritans stepped in to subdue Atharva Vyas, 24, police handcuffed and arrested him. GoFundMe
Vyas was allegedly under the influence of “wax,” a highly concentrated cannabis product — with one dose akin to smoking 15-20 joints, authorities said.
On all fours, he pinned the tot to the ground, jamming his thumbs into her eyes before turning cannibal — sinking his teeth into her face and mouth.
Vyas allegedly ripped out the child’s two front teeth as her mother fought, clawing and wrenching at him in a desperate attempt to save her daughter, she recalled.
Horrified witnesses surged forward, dragging the attacker off Amelia while Perez screamed for Xavier until he finally heard the commotion and raced to the scene.
Someone called 911.
Two men pulled out guns.
“I was screaming ‘Shoot him! Shoot him,'” remembered Gabriella.
Atharva Vyas was jailed and charged in San Antonio, Texas, then police contacted the Department of Homeland Security. BCSO
The crowd finally overwhelmed the maniac, beating him until he collapsed, she said.
The sicko attempted to get up, but each time, the crowd subdued him again until San Antonio police officers arrived to find him drifting in and out of consciousness.
EMS took the bloody, shaking child and her family to Christus Children’s Hospital.
“In the emergency room, the adults were all going crazy while Amelia was suffering shock. She sat eerie calm, like a statue, while the nurses and doctors worked on her poor face,” said Perez. “She didn’t make a peep, even though she was in a great deal of pain. It hadn’t hit her yet, what happened.”
Vyas was jailed in the Bexar County Detention Center and charged with injury to a child with intent to cause bodily injury, assault causing bodily injury and illegal entry from a foreign nation, according to court records.
The Department of Homeland Security told The Post Vyas first entered the country from India in August 2023 on a student visa.
Three months later, he was arrested on the University of Texas campus for felony assault.
The college contacted ICE, but the feds under President Joe Biden determined the crime was not “egregious” enough to warrant visa revocation.
But in April 2025, the Trump administration revoked Vyas’ F-1 visa based on the assault arrest.
Gabriella and Amelia Perez smile in happier times. Gabriella Perez
The day Vyas allegedly attacked Amelia, ICE lodged a detainer request with San Antonio police — asking the local cops to turn him over after he faces the American justice system.
The agency blasted the failed policies that allowed the illegal migrant to remain in the US.
“This barbaric assault against this woman and her 3-year-old child in a park was completely preventable,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. “The Biden administration NEVER should have released this animal following his arrest for assault.”
In a GoFundMe, Perez said the emotional distress from the attack has been overwhelming.
“We need people to send us prayers,” said Perez. “We are focusing on healing and recovery.”
She continued: “Even though you try to protect your children, this is a dangerous world with dangerous people,” added Perez.
Victims of illegal migrant crime may receive support from the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office by contacting 1-855-488-6425.
“DHS law enforcement is protecting American communities every day from another senseless tragedy like this taking place in another town, to another family,” said the spokesman.
Additional reporting by Adry Torres
