Police arrested a former employee of a Texas public school after a seven-year search for the fugitive who is suspected of murdering his boss and then fleeing to Mexico, according to police.
Gerardo Alvarez, 45, a former employee at Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District, was captured in Mexico in early October and brought back to North Texas on Tuesday. He is being charged with the murder of Todd Fenton, Carrollton Police announced Thursday in a statement posted on Twitter.
FUGITIVE CAPTURED! pic.twitter.com/wxVyvXKonI
— Carrollton TX Police (@CarrolltonTXPD) March 11, 2021
Fenton was the head groundskeeper at the school district and reportedly supervised Alvarez at the time of the slaying. A school bus dispatcher discovered Fenton’s body in a maintenance barn at the district’s service center, according to police. Investigators say Fenton had been shot several times in the back Oct. 2, 2013. (RELATED: Former Chicago Teacher Convicted Of Pouring Liquid Nitrogen On Student’s Groin, Causing Burns During Science Demonstration)
Fenton had been a groundskeeper at the district for 15 years, CBS DFW reported.
Investigators identified Alvarez as a suspect in the homicide after he was allegedly seen on surveillance video at the maintenance barn at the time of the shooting, and did not appear at work the following day.
Once authorities determined Alvarez was involved in the case, he had already crossed the border into Mexico, police said.
The U.S. Marshals and Carrollton police collaborated with Mexican authorities for seven years to track down Alvarez. He was taken into custody in the Mexican state of Durango. Police said Alvarez fought extradition to the U.S., delaying his return until March.
“The partnership of The U.S. Marshals, our own detective assigned to their fugitive task force, as well as the authorities in Mexico will finally allow the family of Todd Fenton some measure of peace,” Carrollton Police Chief Derick Miller said. “It may have been justice delayed, but it was not denied.”
Alvarez is being held at the Dallas County Jail and his bail is set at $5 million, WFAA reported.