A man formerly on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list has been returned to Philadelphia following his arrest in connection with the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl in 2000, according to authorities.
Alexis Flores, 51, was wanted for the killing of Iriana DeJesus when he was apprehended in Honduras in February after several years on the run, WTFX-TV reported.
Now he’s been extradited to Philadelphia and will face criminal charges in connection with the girl’s death, according to the TV station.
“The return of Alexis Flores to Philadelphia demonstrates our unwavering commitment to pursuing fugitives wherever they may run, no matter how much time has passed,” Wayne A. Jacobs, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia office, said in a statement, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Flores is facing multiple charges, including kidnapping, murder and rape, authorities said, per the newspaper.
Irina was reported as missing in Philadelphia in July 2000, the newspaper reported. A few days later, her body was found in an empty apartment located above a local store in Philadelphia, authorities said, with evidence indicating the girl was raped and strangled.
Flores was named the suspect in her death about seven years later in 2007 and was sought by the FBI, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
He was linked to her killing after DNA had been collected during a separate arrest in Arizona and tied him to the 2000 crime scene, WTFX-TV reported.
When Flores’ name appeared on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in June 2007, he was in Honduras, where he had been previously deported to, according to the TV station.
Following his arrest in the country in February, Iriana’s mother, Lizasuain DeJesus, described her daughter as an “angel,” the TV station reported.
“I know she’s an angel,” DeJesus said. “She was an angel before. She became an angel the minute that she was murdered and she will continue to be my angel watching over us.”
“For more than 25 years, Iriana’s family has lived with an unimaginable loss while waiting for this day,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said in a statement, per WTFX-TV. “Alexis Flores may have crossed borders and spent decades trying to escape responsibility, but our commitment to Iriana and her family never stopped. His return to Philadelphia is the result of extraordinary persistence by our homicide investigators and the FBI, together with our international partners in Honduras.”
“We are deeply grateful to everyone who helped bring him back to face justice,” Bethel’s statement continued. “Iriana was only five years old. We have never forgotten her, and we never will.”
It was not immediately clear whether Flores had retained legal representation.
