Dallas teen Natalie Navarro, 17, is charged with murdering man just hours after an AMBER Alert was issued to find her: Cops hunt second suspect after victim was found shot dead inside a car
Dallas teen Natalie Navarro, 17, is charged with the murder of a man just hours after an AMBER Alert was issued to find her: Police hunt for second suspect after victim found shot dead in a car
- Natalie Navarro, 17, was the subject of an AMBER alert at 1:30 a.m. Friday
- Within an hour she was found, taken into custody and charged with murder
- Another suspect Yordy Martinez, 21, is feared to have fled to Mexico
A 17-year-old Dallas teen has been charged with murder just hours after being the subject of an AMBER alert when she briefly went missing.
Natalie Navarro was charged Friday with the murder of Arturo Pena, 21, three days after he was found shot to death in a car in Garland, Texas. Another suspect, Yordy Martinez, 21, is also wanted by police in connection with the murder.
Martinez was listed as a suspect in Navarro’s disappearance when the AMBER alert was issued Friday, after police received reports that she disappeared under “suspicious circumstances” from an apartment complex in east Dallas around 1:30 a.m.
Both she and Martinez had arrest warrants in connection with Pena’s murder at the time of the AMBER alert, and it is feared that Martinez may have fled across the US-Mexico border as he remains at large.
Garland police have not provided further details about the circumstances leading up to Navarro’s disappearance and arrest, saying they are still “trying to find out” exactly how the three individuals knew each other.
Natalie Navarro, 17, faced a murder charge just hours after being the subject of an AMBER alert when she went missing under ‘suspicious circumstances’
Suspect Yordy Martinez, 21, has a warrant for his arrest in connection with the murder, but is at large and feared to have fled to Mexico
Police discovered Pena in his car around 10 a.m. on August 29 following reports that he had been found unconscious, before being determined to have been fatally shot.
According to fox4he had been reported missing to the Dallas Police Department two days earlier.
Police focused on Martinez and Navarro during their investigation and obtained arrest warrants after identifying them as persons of interest in the case.
The investigation took a strange turn when Navarro, who had not yet been charged at the time, became the center of the AMBER alarm. Police have said the circumstances surrounding her disappearance met the conditions for the warning, but have not elaborated on the circumstances.
She was located and arrested within an hour by police, who said she was “safe and in custody.”
Martinez, who was initially listed as a suspect by police in the AMBER alert, is believed to have escaped in a dark gray four-door vehicle, and there are fears he may have fled to Mexico.
The 21-year-old, who police say is missing a front tooth, has a criminal record that includes charges for allegedly shooting a gun at a Garland home last November.
Arturo Pena, 21, was found shot to death in his car on August 29, two days after he was reported missing
Police say they are still trying to determine if Navarro (pictured), Martinez and Pena knew each other before the shooting
The exact details surrounding the murder and subsequent arrest warrants have not been confirmed by police, who say they are still pouring over evidence about the murder.
“There’s a lot of stuff going around, we’ve collected a lot of evidence, so we’re trying to process everything now,” Garland Police Department Lieutenant Richard Maldonado said.
When asked about a possible motive, he said investigators “have yet to fully determine that.”