A woman accused of killing her 3-year-old daughter in Fort Worth nearly three decades ago has finally been caught. Maria Narez, now 48, was arrested last Saturday in Mexico, ending a fugitive run that stretched back to before her capital murder case ever reached a courtroom.
According to the Tarrant County DA, the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office indicted Narez in 1999 for capital murder in connection with the 1996 death of her daughter, Kassandra White. Before the case could go to trial, Narez fled and remained a fugitive for decades, and the office says it never gave up on bringing her back to face the charge and answer for her daughter's death.
Every Child Matters. pic.twitter.com/7i4nonlcZa
— Tarrant County DA (@TarrantCountyDA) August 10, 2026
The allegations against Narez date to November 17, 1996, when she was 19 years old. Archived local news reporting preserved by AMW Fans indicates the capital murder charge stems from claims that Narez threw Kassandra against a wall and a door after the toddler refused to go to sleep, resulting in fatal blunt force trauma.
Delayed Medical Care Preceded Kassandra's Death
Those same archived records show Narez did not immediately take Kassandra to the hospital after the injury. The child reportedly began limping, vomiting, and losing consciousness in the time before she died at a local hospital, and Narez and her boyfriend allegedly attempted to revive the unconscious child with rubbing alcohol before eventually seeking emergency medical care, per the outlet's reporting. Employment records cited in the same coverage indicate Narez had worked as a grocery checkout clerk in Fort Worth before her indictment and flight.
Under Texas Penal Code Section 19.03(a)(8), the intentional or knowing murder of a child under 10 is classified as capital murder, a capital felony carrying only two possible sentences in Texas: death or life imprisonment without parole, according to FindLaw. Because Narez was arrested in Mexico, the case now moves into a well-established diplomatic framework. Under the 1978 U.S.-Mexico Extradition Treaty, Mexico conditions extradition of fugitives facing capital charges on formal assurances from U.S. prosecutors that the death penalty will not be sought or executed, per a report from the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies.
What a Conviction Could Mean for Narez
That means the death penalty is effectively off the table under the customary arrangement, leaving life imprisonment without parole as the likely outcome if Narez is convicted. In Texas capital murder prosecutions where the state does not seek execution, state law mandates an automatic sentence of life without parole for adult defendants, according to Brian Foley Law PLLC.
For 27 years, Narez stayed on investigators' radar even as she evaded capture. She was repeatedly profiled on Crime Stoppers of Tarrant County wanted lists, with public appeals made as recently as March 2023, and investigators noted she may have used the alias Maria Jarez, the archived AMW Fans reporting states.
A Cross-Border Manhunt Years in the Making
Her eventual arrest required cooperation across multiple agencies and two countries. The Tarrant County DA's Office credited Mexico Interpol, the U.S. Marshals Mexico Foreign Field Office, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Justice-Office of International Affairs with supporting the pursuit of justice in the case. DA Investigators Tiffany Johnson and Victor Espino-Nevarez and Assistant District Attorney Steven Elliott also worked the case, the office said in its statement.
Extraditions and fugitive captures between the United States and Mexico typically rely on joint operations between the U.S. Marshals Service Foreign Field Office and Interpol Mexico, which together manage one of the most active cross-border law enforcement corridors in the Western Hemisphere, according to the Spodek Law Group.
Part of a Broader Cold Case Push
Narez's capture comes amid a renewed push by Tarrant County prosecutors to close out old, unsolved violent crime cases. In January, Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells launched a dedicated Cold Case Task Force aimed at using advanced DNA testing, digital forensics, and inter-agency collaboration to solve historical homicides and apprehend long-wanted fugitives, according to the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office.
The office's international reach was also on display last year, when it extradited Cindy Rodriguez Singh from India on capital murder charges tied to the disappearance and death of her 6-year-old son, Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez. Rodriguez Singh had fled the U.S. in 2023 and was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list before her capture, per the DA's office.
In its statement announcing Narez's arrest, the Tarrant County DA's Office said the tireless work of investigators and partner agencies ensures this decades-old case was not forgotten — and neither was the pursuit of justice.
