Suspect extradited from Mexico, arrested 20 years to the day in cold case murder of Arizona girl

A suspect has been arrested in the brutal murder of an Arizona girl that happened 20 years ago.

The Phoenix Police Department (PPD) confirmed to Fox News Digital in a statement that 37-year-old Sergio Francisco Reyes was arrested Wednesday for the alleged murder of 15-year-old Elena Lasswell in 2004.

Reyes’ arrest came exactly 20 years to the day since Lasswell was murdered in his Phoenix home on July 10, 2004.

“On July 10, 2024, exactly 20 years after the horrific murder of then 15-year-old Elena Laswell, detectives from the Phoenix Police Department’s Cold Case Unit arrested and charged 37-year-old Sergio Reyes with multiple violent crimes, including sexual assault and first-degree murder,” Sergeant Brian Bauer, Phoenix Police Public Information Office, said in a statement.

California man who used a false name for 40 years arrested for murder of woman

Police said Reyes was extradited from Mexico on Wednesday and booked into the Maricopa County Jail on multiple violent felony charges.

Just after 8 p.m. on July 10, 2004, Phoenix Police responded to a home at the intersection of 23rd Street and Thomas Road.

Officers and Phoenix firefighters were directed to a room where they found the victim, later identified as Lasswell.

FBI finds new clue in New Mexico musician murder; mother says man ‘taken’ from motel

In a press release, Phoenix Police said suspect Sergio Francisco Reyes, 37, was extradited from Mexico on July 10 and was booked into the Maricopa County Jail on multiple charges, including sexual assault and first-degree murder of Elena Lasswell. (FOX 10 Phoenix/Phoenix Police Department)

“Emergency life-saving measures were attempted but Mr Lasswell was pronounced dead from his injuries,” police said in a statement.

Officers were able to make contact with several witnesses and then turned the case over to homicide detectives, who took over the investigation and ran into leads with no direct information about who may have killed Laswell.

Maryland woman shocked after ex-boyfriend arrested in mother’s unsolved murder 23 years ago: ‘It’s pretty unbelievable’

Phoenix police arrested Sergio Francisco Reyes (left) on murder charges today, 20 years after the murder of Elena Laswell. (FOX 10 Phoenix)

With no suspects, detectives submitted the case to Silent Witness and asked for the community’s assistance in identifying a suspect, but investigators ran out of leads and the case remained unsolved.

Police said in 2012 that cold case detectives were able to use DNA sampling technology to identify a profile that matched Reyes.

In March 2013, DNA testing confirmed that Reyes was the prime suspect.

Reyes, who police say was living in Mexico at the time, was indicted by a Maricopa County grand jury in 2014. Extradition proceedings were then initiated with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service to locate and arrest Reyes for the brutal sexual assault and murder of Laswell.

Florida detectives solve former firefighter murder 37 years ago

Elena Laswell’s aunt (left) told FOX 10 the family doesn’t want revenge on the suspected killer, they just want him to be caught and stop hurting anyone else. (Katie Tourville/FOX 10 Phoenix)

Fox 10 Phoenix spoke with Lasswell’s aunt on Wednesday afternoon about the family’s emotions.

“It’s a great feeling to know someone is being held accountable,” Katie Tuville said. “It’s been a long journey, but I want to thank the Phoenix Police Department. They’ve done a really great job. I felt like they were on the right path and that they were going to figure it out. I just didn’t know when.”

Elena’s mother died several years after her daughter was murdered, but Tourville said her mother’s wish was not revenge.

Click here to get the FOX News app

“She wanted him to be caught so he wouldn’t hurt anyone else,” Tourville said.

Reyes is being held on $1.5 million bail and is scheduled for his next court appearance on July 17, according to jail records.