Phoenix police revealed this week an arrest in a two-decade-old murder of a 15-year-old female.
Police said in a brief video statement Wednesday that Elena Lasswell was “brutally” killed inside her house twenty years to the day.
On suspicion of first-degree murder, Sergio Reyes, 37, was detained Wednesday. Police reported that he was extradited from Mexico and housed in the Maricopa County Jail.
“This is a significant day for Elena’s family more than for the Phoenix Police Department. For twenty years, Phoenix police Det. Dominick Roestenberg stated in the video message, that they have been waiting for justice. “It took some time, but with tenacity and diligence, we can get Sergio Reyes back to Phoenix to face charges.” Court records show Reyes to have a public defender. On Friday afternoon, his attorney wasn’t contacted right away for remarks on Reyes’ behalf.
Records kept by courts and jails show Reyes is housed on a $1.5 million bond. According to jail records, Reyes is incarcerated on two counts of sex offenses, two counts of murder, and kidnapping, a case of criminal trespass and burglary.
Friday afternoon inquiries on the case, including how Reyes, then seventeen in 2004, knew Elena, did not get an immediate response from police.
Police added in a separate statement regarding the case Elena was discovered injured and unresponsive in a bedroom in her house on July 10, 2004. On scene, officers declared she was dead.
Police claimed the case went cold and investigators had few leads or any firsthand information of who killed Elena. But in 2012, police claimed detectives uncovered a profile matching Reyes using “DNA collecting techniques.”
Police declared Reyes the “lead suspect,” based on DNA evidence received in March 2013. Police reported that Reyes, a Mexican citizen, was charged by a county grand jury the next year.
The indictment set off the process of extradition. Phoenix police credited the U.S. Marshals Service officials for tracking Reyes and arresting him.
Mesa, Arizona NBC affiliate KPNX contacted Elena’s father, Steve Lasswell, who expressed his lack of hope his family would ever see justice for his daughter.
“After 20 years, to be honest, I really wasn’t expecting any more development on the case,” Lasswell remarked. Arresting him would stop him from acting in any other manner like that. That served as the main hope.
Lasswell commended police and investigators for never giving up on the investigation; this would enable his family to find some peace.
“We all still miss Elena and we consider what she might have been today,” he told NBC. “I really sincerely want to thank the Phoenix Police Department and everyone else engaged in this for hanging in there for this long and having success.”
