Carson Murder Suspect Arrested In Mexico, Missing Daughter Found Safe
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A woman wanted as a suspect in a Carson murder has been arrested after being found in Mexico, and her missing teenage daughter was found with her, sheriff's officials announced Wednesday.
According to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the FBI and local law enforcement located and arrested Maricela Mercado in Chihuahua, Mexico on Tuesday, July 23. Mercado's missing daughter Alora Benitez was found with her.
Mercado and Benitez were deported from Mexico after being deemed to have entered the country illegally. They were transported to the Paso Del Norte port of entry and were delivered to agents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Mercado was then arrested by officers from the El Paso Police Department pursuant to the warrant issued in Los Angeles for the murder of Jeffrey Appel.
Alora Benitez was taken into FBI custody pending her return to California and reunification with her family.
Mercado will remain in custody in El Paso, Texas, pending extradition to California.
Benitez was last seen in April getting into a BMW with Mercado and her ex-husband Roman Cerratos, suspects in the killing of a man found dead in Carson.
Cerratos and Mercado were wanted in connection to the April 16 killing of a man found dead in the front seat of a white Audi parked in the 400 block of East Carson Plaza Drive.
Cerratos was taken into custody by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department on June 15 after being arrested in Mexico the day before, according to officials.
He was charged with murder.