Diego Velasquez-Espino, 19, is scheduled to appear before a judge on Wednesday. He is accused of kidnapping a 14-year-old girl from her home in Parkway Village, Memphis, which led to an Amber Alert and a multi-agency search. Velasquez-Espino is being held without bond on a statutory rape charge related to the case, as stated by WREG.
The Memphis Police Department reported that a teenager was abducted from her home on Knightway Road around 7 p.m. last Friday. The U.S. Marshals and Southaven Police Department found the teenager unharmed in Southaven, Mississippi, a few hours later. According to the Shelby County Criminal Justice System Portal, Velasquez-Espino faces charges of aggravated kidnapping, four counts of aggravated assault, aggravated burglary, and possession of a firearm during a dangerous felony, as relayed by WREG.
Diego Velasquez-Espino, accused of kidnapping and statutory rape in Memphis, was reportedly armed with a gun during the incident and faces additional charges as a fugitive from justice, WJTV reports. A neighbor described the scene, saying, "He said ‘aw baby come outside. It’s something going on.’ I came out and the whole block right there was full of police cars," as per WREG. DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton commented on the coordinated law enforcement response, stating, "I saw the Amber Alert like everybody else and said, ‘Oh, geez, what’s going on in Memphis?’ And then it made its way down to Southaven. And so I know there is a coordinated effort across state lines and multiple agencies to work hard on this." The timeline for Velasquez-Espino's extradition to Shelby County is currently unknown, as mentioned by WJTV.
