A man has been arrested on murder charges exactly 20 years after he allegedly killed a 15-year-old girl in Phoenix, Arizona, authorities said.
Officers identified Sergio Reyes, now 37, as a suspect in 2014 — a decade after the murder — but he was living in Mexico at the time, police said. Investigators worked with the U.S. Marshals Service in the following years to locate and extradite Reyes. He was booked into Maricopa County Jail on Wednesday on charges stemming from the July 10, 2004 death of Elena Lasswell.
“It’s been 20 years to the day 15-year-old Elena Lasswell was murdered inside her home. So it’s a big day not only for the Phoenix Police Department, but more importantly Elena’s family,” Det. Dominick Roestenberg said in a video posted to the department’s Facebook page. “They’ve been waiting 20 years for justice. So it took a while, but through perseverance and hard work and dedication, we were able to get Sergio Reyes back to Phoenix to face charges.”
Lasswell died in her own home, despite efforts by first responders to save her life, police said in a press release. In the immediate aftermath of her death, detectives were unable to find any “direct information as to who killed Lasswell.”
Cold case detectives in 2012 used DNA collection techniques to identify a profile matching Reyes and the following year he was confirmed as the lead suspect in Lasswell’s death. A Maricopa County Grand Jury in 2014 indicted Reyes while he was living in Mexico.
Jail records show bond was set at $1.5 million. Reyes is set to appear in court July 17 on charges of murder in the 1st degree during a crime, sexual assault, murder in the 1st degree- premeditated, burglary in the 2nd degree and kidnapping.