A man wanted in connection with a brutal 2020 killing in Georgetown is finally back in a Williamson County jail cell. Authorities say the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, led by the U.S. Marshals, arrested 41-year-old Hernan Perez Juarez, who has also used the name Patricio Perez, on Monday in Temple after investigators learned he had slipped back into the United States without legal status. He was taken to the Williamson County Jail, where he remains booked on a murder charge pending further court proceedings.
Case background
The case goes back to May 2020, when Sandra De La Cruz was found dead inside her Georgetown apartment. An arrest affidavit reviewed by CBS Austin states she was discovered in the bathtub with a deep laceration to her lower abdomen, and an autopsy later determined she had been stabbed eight times.
According to that affidavit, investigators found handwritten notes taped to the bathroom and master bedroom mirrors that referred to an argument about possibly ending the relationship. A witness also told police the couple had argued two days before De La Cruz was found, a detail that helped shape detectives’ early theory of the case, according to KEYE.
How investigators tracked him down
As the investigation unfolded, Georgetown police obtained a murder warrant on March 30, 2022, in the 277th District Court and turned to the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force for help after Perez Juarez’s vehicle was found abandoned in Laredo near the U.S.-Mexico border. At the time, investigators suspected he had crossed into international territory, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
This month, members of the task force developed information that Perez Juarez, a Mexican national, had reentered the country illegally. Federal marshals say they moved in on Monday in Temple, where task force officers arrested him and then transferred him to Williamson County custody for booking on the murder charge, as outlined by the Marshals Service and local coverage from FOX 7 Austin.
Legal and immigration note
Federal officials say Perez Juarez is a Mexican national who had previously been deported in 2018 for an immigration violation and that he had no legal status in the United States when he was taken into custody this week. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has filed an immigration detainer to take effect after the Williamson County judicial process, according to a U.S. Marshals news release.
Authorities say the investigation remains active, and Perez Juarez will stay in Williamson County custody for further court proceedings. Georgetown police requested help from the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force to track him down, and no additional court dates or filings had been made public as of Tuesday evening.
