Santa Maria police share process in arresting homicide suspect who fled to Mexico

Santa Maria police are detailing how they caught a homicide suspect who fled to Mexico.
Police were searching for the suspect in connection with the murder that happened near the 805 Tacos earlier this month.
Investigators said when a suspect flees the country, it turns into a very difficult case for them to solve.
They are pleased that this arrest was made in a few days.
Juan Hernandez, 29, allegedly shot and killed Jose Gonzalez of Santa Maria on Oct. 6 before fleeing to Mexico.
Police worked with the U.S. Marshal’s Office to find and arrest Hernandez south of the border.
We’re told the suspect did not resist arrest in his return to the United States.
“We were able to track the suspect to a location in Mexico and through the process of the investigation ultimately the suspect ended up turning himself into authorities in Mexico, and he was transported to LAX on Monday where we took custody of him,” said Lt. Van Meel with the Santa Maria Police Department.
Since this is still an open case, the department is not able to give out a lot of details.
But Van Meel said if it weren’t for the collaboration between the police and the U.S. Marshal’s Office, the case could have taken much longer to solve.
Hernandez has been booked at the Santa Barbara County Jail.

KEYT 2019