An illegal migrant who was left to roam free by the Biden administration after committing a violent assault has launched another horrific attack.
Atharva Vyas, 24, is accused of biting three-year-old Amelia Perez on the face at a public park in San Antonio, Texas on April 18.
The Indian national charged at Amelia and her mother Gabriella Perez as they were exiting the restroom at Espada Park, according to a preliminary police report.
He lunged at Perez, grabbed her hair and punched her in the jaw. The terrified mother pulled Amelia to the ground in an attempt to keep her out of harm’s way but Vyas leapt on top of her.
‘He tried poking at [her] eyes with his thumb,’ Perez told KSAT. ‘He hit me. He was a big man. I just remember laying there and looking for [Amelia] and I just see him on top trying to do the thumb.’
He then turned cannibalistic, biting Amelia’s face and pulling out her two front teeth in a horrific attack that Perez said was like something out of a ‘zombie movie.’
A group of bystanders rushed in to help and restrained Vyas, who was subsequently arrested by San Antonio police.
Vyas has been 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 Bexar County court records.
Three-year-old Amelia Perez was assaulted by an illegal migrant in a public park in San Antonio, Texas on April 18. Her attacker bit her face and pulled out her two front teeth
Atharva Vyas, 24, was restrained by a group of Good Samaritans who rushed to help the little girl and then taken into the custody by San Antonio police
‘The attacker targeted both of us, and my daughter suffered severe injuries to her face,’ Perez said in a GoFundMe campaign.
She said that Amelia was hospitalized after the attack and, despite being released, has required ‘constant care, comfort, and reassurance’ ever since.
The little girl is too afraid to return to daycare or be left in the care of anyone besides her parents, her mother said.
Perez has taken an absence from work to care for Amelia.
‘The emotional distress from this event has been overwhelming for both of us, and we are now focused on helping her heal physically and emotionally,’ she said.
Vyas was arrested at the park and booked into the Bexar County Jail. His bond was set at $20,000.
The accused attacker is due in court for his arraignment on May 15.
San Antonio police have not released a motive for the attack, which remains under investigation.
Amelia was hospitalized after the attack and, despite being released, has required ‘constant care, comfort, and reassurance’ ever since, her mother said
Her mother Gabriella Perez, pictured with her partner Xavier Estrada and their children, was also attacked by Vyas
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) has lodged an arrest detainer for Vyas in wake of the attack, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the Daily Mail.
Vyas, originally from India, first entered the US on an F-1 student visa in August 2023.
He was arrested for felony assault at the University of Texas campus just three months later, authorities said.
But the Biden administration did not take any enforcement action against him after determining the ‘crime was not “egregious” enough to warrant visa revocation,’ according to DHS.
The Trump administration revoked Vyas’s F-1 visa in April 2025 due to his arrest for the 2023 assault.
It is unclear how he continued to stay in the US for the past year as DHS did not address that question from our reporter.
‘This criminal illegal alien brutally bit this child and caused her to lose two teeth. This barbaric assault against this woman and her three-year-old in a park was completely preventable,’ Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis told Daily Mail.
‘The Biden administration NEVER should have released this animal following his arrest for assault. We are working with our partners in Texas to ensure this criminal illegal alien never roams free in American communities again.’
Vyas has been 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 Bexar County court records
Amelia is still too afraid to return to daycare or be left in the care of anyone besides her parents, her mother said
Perez has hailed the ‘selfless’ bystanders who jumped to her and Amelia’s aid.
She recalled how the horrified witnesses pulled Vyas off of Amelia as she screamed for her partner Xavier Estrada.
Perez told the New York Post that two witnesses pulled out their guns while another called 911.
‘I was screaming “Shoot him! Shoot him,”‘ she recalled.
No shots were fired, but the witnesses did beat Vyas until he collapsed on the ground, she told the newspaper.
‘Even though you try to protect your children, this is a dangerous world with dangerous people,’ she added.
The Daily Mail has approached the Perez family for comment.
