A 17-year-old Syrian national has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of murdering a 19-year-old woman in the city of Mannheim, according to authorities.
The arrest followed a request from the Mannheim Public Prosecutor’s Office, after the Mannheim District Court issued a warrant charging the teenager with murder.
A police report published on Thursday said the suspect had been in a relationship with the victim for more than a year. On Tuesday evening, the two met before later heading into Käfertaler Forest.
Investigators believe the attack took place shortly after midnight, around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
“She was unaware of the attack and unable to defend herself. The 17-year-old is said to have taken advantage of this and killed the 19-year-old with his bare hands and, presumably, a branch,” the police report read.
Her body was discovered several hours later at around 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning by a passerby, who alerted police.
Authorities launched a large-scale investigation immediately after the discovery, forming a 60-member special commission to track down the suspect.
The teenager was provisionally arrested later the same evening in Mannheim. He was brought before an investigating judge at the Mannheim District Court on Thursday, where the arrest warrant for murder was formally issued.
The court ordered that he remain in custody pending further proceedings.
