Grieving mother of Dacara Thompson pushes back on disparaging comments, calls for justice

Carmen Thompson urges the public to show compassion as her family mourns the murdered Maryland teen: “Don’t believe everything you hear.”

After a two-week search for their missing daughter, Dacara Thompson, the Thompson family is now dealing with an outcome no one hoped for. Last week, officials confirmed that the 19-year-old was killed after finding her body off Route 50 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Suspect Hugo Hernandez-Mendez is currently being held without bail in police custody for Thompson’s murder. 

Following a court hearing on Monday, the victim’s mother, Carmen Thompson, talked to reporters, addressing some of the narratives that have begun circulating on social media regarding her daughter’s case. 

“She was a good girl. She was a good kid,” Thompson said, per ABC News. “There’s been a lot of people disparaging her character on social media and things and such. Please don’t believe everything you see. Don’t believe everything you hear. Out of respect for the family and us grieving, please approach us, approach everything with grace. We would appreciate that.” 

This appears to be a direct response to the social media users who have speculated that the missing teen was involved in some sort of salacious activity.

Dacara was last seen on August 22. When her parents didn’t hear from her for 24 hours, police began their investigation into her disappearance, discovering surveillance video that showed the teenager being approached by a black SUV, speaking to the driver, and then getting in the car. 

As previously reported by theGrio, police say the driver then drove to a home in Bowie, where detectives later found evidence that suggests Thompson was murdered inside Hernandez-Mendez’s bedroom. 

“I just want justice served for my daughter,” Carmen Thompson emphasized. “My daughter had just turned 19 years old, prior to this unfortunate circumstance. She was working under West Moore’s Maryland Year service program.  She had just completed a year-long internship in which she was very successful. She did a great job. She was kind of an outgoing, soft-spoken, kind young lady. She was a free spirit.” 

“This is a young woman who dedicated part of her young life to serving others, to serving others, and I want that to bring home to all of you that this is a good, good, good young woman who wanted to do good for her community, and now her community will stand behind her family as we seek justice for her,“ Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy said of Dacara, per NBC News. 

While Hernandez-Mendez is being held in police custody without bond, the Thompson family is bracing themselves for the tough realities of now cooperating with the investigation and having to constantly recount the events leading up to their daughter’s disappearance. 

“We know it’s going to be extremely hard,” Thompson concluded. “We just ask that everybody pray for our strength through the process.”