Father jailed after teen daughter’s body found along Rio Grande

EL PASO, Texas – A 39-year-old father is in police custody in connection with the slaying of his teenage daughter whose body was discovered along the Rio Grande, El Paso police said.

Ghari Ingraham was arrested late Tuesday following an autopsy earlier that day that determined the death of Carisia Ingraham, 17, was "suspicious in nature," according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Carisia Ingraham's body was found on a river embankment shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday by a fisherman.

Ghari Ingraham, who had initially reported his daughter missing Monday, confessed to police Tuesday to putting his daughter in a chokehold during an argument over her cellphone and holding her in the chokehold "until she was no longer kicking and moving," according to the affidavit. He also admitted to throwing her against a wall in their apartment.

He told police he panicked and then drove her lifeless body to an embankment of the Rio Grande so that her body could be found, the affidavit states.

Ghari Ingraham remains jailed on a $750,000 cash or surety bond, according to jail records. Court records indicate he is scheduled for a bond hearing Friday.

His court-appointed attorney, Jim Darnell, declined to comment Wednesday, saying, "we don't have anything to say at this point."

Carisia Ingraham worked at Blake's Lotaburger, according to the affidavit. She was found Sunday wearing her work uniform and her body displayed "bruising along her neck and with trauma like markings on her chest area," according to the affidavit.

It is unclear from the arrest warrant affidavit what time she was killed. A neighbor in the vicinity of where her body was found told police he heard his dogs barking "wildly" at approximately 2:30 a.m. Sunday, but "did not see or hear anyone in the area."

Investigators determined that Ghari Ingraham had authored text messages sent to his daughter's phone "in an effort to conceal (her) death and disappearance," the affidavit states.

Contributing: Codell Rodriguez. Follow Molly Smith on Twitter: @smithmollyk