Parents accused of killing missing baby through neglect are back in Broward

The parents of a 1-year-old baby who mysteriously vanished in 2025 are now behind bars in Broward — accused of killing the infant through neglect.

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Samantha Angelina Feliz, 20, and Alejandro Leon Jr., 21, were extradited from Rockingham, North Carolina, where they were arrested in connection to the death of their daughter Alayaih “Angelina” Amor Leon Feliz, who was last seen in early February 2025.

Feliz was booked into the Broward Main Jail on Sunday; Leon on July 26, according to jail records. The pair is being held without bond.

Alayaih’s remains haven’t been found, police say. And, throughout the last year, Feliz and Leon have claimed that Alayaih was never born and was part of an elaborate scam.

READ MORE: Hollywood pair claimed baby was fake, but she was real and they killed her: cops

The couple are facing a slew of charges, including aggravated manslaughter of a child, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and making false reports to law enforcement during an investigation.

Questions about baby arise

On July 22, 2025, a family member told Hollywood police he hadn’t seen the little girl since February of that year, just two months after her birth in December 2024, according to the pair’s arrest warrants.

The relative’s concerns grew when Feliz and Leon visited his home for two weeks earlier in July without Alayaih, the warrants say. When asked about the baby during the visit, the couple said the child was a scam and “denied ever having a baby.”

Investigators uncovered that Feliz and Leon spent months denying Alayaih’s existence. The couple first told this story around March 2025, just three months after Alayaih’s birth, according to detectives.

An unidentified person who saw Alayaih in “good condition” in February told investigators that when he met with Feliz just a few weeks later in March she told him, “What baby, there is no baby,” the warrants say.

And Feliz went further, claiming the baby was a hoax because she “was scamming everyone for money,” according to investigators. Feliz and Leon later repeated that account to police:

“Leon and Feliz maintained that Feliz was never pregnant and had never given birth to a baby,” a detective wrote in the warrants. “They further claimed that the story was fabricated in hopes that their families would feel sorry for them and give them money.”

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Feliz claimed Alayaih belonged to a “crack addict” and that the couple were only watching the baby. She also stated she wore a pregnant-belly cast, according to police.

While there was no official record of Alayaih’s birth, investigators compiled evidence that the child existed.

Hollywood detectives learned that Leon and Feliz had been visited by then-Miami-Dade Police Department officers on Dec. 5, 2024, in regard to a disturbance between Feliz and a roommate. The ensuing police report describes Feliz as pregnant with an “apparent extended belly.”

In text messages between Feliz and a contact named “Titi,” meaning aunt in Spanish, Feliz acknowledged being pregnant, the warrants state. Feliz said on Dec. 5, 2024, that her water broke and that she was shocked because she was only 37 weeks pregnant. In the following days, Feliz texted “Titi” and her mother that the baby was fine.

“Hey titi, it’s me her name is Alayaih Amor Leon/Feliz,” Feliz wrote in a text.

In late February 2025, around the time family members said they last saw Alayaih, Leon and Feliz were evicted from their Hollywood home, records show. Detectives discovered that the couple moved into a rental storage unit in May, the warrants say.

There, detectives uncovered baby clothing, a positive pregnancy test, a black semi-auto handgun, a blood-stained towel, multiple devices and three notebooks that described a gender reveal and a baby shower for Alayaih, according to police.

DNA testing revealed blood on the towel and baby clothing belonged to a biological child of Leon and Feliz, detectives say.

Authorities also uncovered photos of the baby with Feliz and Leon from Dec. 19, 2024, to Jan. 5, 2025.

The pictures show Alayaih in “what appears to be good health” on Dec. 21, 2024, but her health began to decline in other pictures in the first week of January to the point that there was an “apparent change in her facial features and skin tone,” according to investigators.

“In this final photo, the victim is showing no signs of life,” the detective wrote in the warrants.

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Miami Herald staff writer Devoun Cetoute contributed to this report