By Katie Daviscourt – The Postmillennial
A grand jury indicted an illegal immigrant from El Salvador in connection to the death of Samantha Dailey, 32, of Charles Town, West Virginia. David Antonio Calderon, 46, has been accused of killing Dailey in Jefferson County and then setting her body on fire in a field in neighboring Berkeley County. The murder occurred in May 2024, The Spirit of Jefferson reported.
Dailey’s body was discovered on a burning sofa in the 100 block of Golf Course Road in Berkley County on May 6, 2024. Investigators said that her remains were so badly burned that she was unidentifiable, and believe that she was initially killed in Jefferson County.
The victim was under GPS surveillance at the time of the killing. Dailey was serving a home confinement sentence for driving with a suspended license, a non-violent offense, authorities said. She was allowed to leave her Jefferson County residence to conduct business matters and perform errands.
Dailey informed the officer responsible for her case on the day of her murder that she intended to clean the Los Amigos Car Lot in Ranson, which is believed to be where Calderon was staying, according to the police. Later that evening, officers discovered an unknown victim’s dead body burning on a sofa in Berkeley County.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office contacted their Berkeley County counterparts two days later to inform them that Dailey had gone missing and that her GPS tracker stopped working. The tracker last pinged from the location where the unidentified body was discovered, according to police. After the discovery, investigators worked backward to trace Dailey’s final movements on May 6. Dailey’s GPS tracker showed her at several locations in Martinsburg and observed Calderon driving a dark blue Nissan Ultima on surveillance video.
Calderon had previous arrests and convictions in El Salvador, including sexual assault, murder, aggravated robbery, DUI, and narcotics-related crimes, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office. He illegally entered the United States on an unknown date after he was released from prison in El Salvador in 2021, officials said.
Calderon first sought asylum in Canada but was turned over to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which released him into the country after giving him a notice to appear before an immigration judge. He was scheduled to appear in court on May 8, just two days after the murder. ICE told Newsweek a detainer had been placed on him.
On April 10, Calderon beat a homeless couple with a baseball bat, leaving them hospitalized with serious injuries. He then stabbed another man several times on April 28 following an argument, according to the sheriff’s office. Jefferson County Prosecutor Matt Harvey said that Calderon was convicted on January 17, 2025, of malicious assault and unlawful wounding over the April 2024 incidents.
Dailey was described as a “devoted mother, daughter, and friend to all.” Calderon will appear back in court on March 17 for sentencing pertaining to his January 17 conviction.