A 29-year-old woman wanted for more than a year in the hit-and-run death of a 77-year-old grandmother has finally been caught, arrested Thursday as she tried to cross back into the United States at a South Texas port of entry. Melanie Christine Cuellar was taken into custody without incident at U.S. Port of Entry No. 2 in Eagle Pass, ending a manhunt that stretched across state and international lines for 14 months.
Cuellar is accused of striking and killing Maria Lopez while the elderly woman was crossing Alameda Avenue in South-Central El Paso, according to KTSM 9 News. Lopez was struck and killed at the scene; sources differ on whether the crash occurred July 19 or July 20, 2025, and Cuellar has been wanted since on an active warrant for collision involving death. Investigators say she fled to Mexico, and she was booked into Eagle Pass custody before being transported toward the Tom Bowles Detention Center pending extradition back to El Paso.
How the Crash Unfolded on Alameda Avenue
The collision happened shortly before 9:30 a.m. that Saturday, as Lopez crossed the 6800 block of Alameda Avenue near Gibraltar Drive when a westbound, light-colored SUV struck her and drove off, according to timeline records cited by Solve the Case. Lopez, a mother and grandmother, had been on her way to Juárez to shop and visit relatives at the time of the crash, family members told Puente Libre — a routine cross-border trip common for residents throughout the El Paso–Juárez metro area.
El Paso Police investigators recovered the suspect vehicle just five days later, on July 24, 2025, and officially identified Cuellar as the suspected driver by August 4, according to the same case timeline. The case timeline lists her as Most Wanted, with a $100,000 bond attached to the warrant.
A Year of Waiting for the Victim's Family
Despite that swift early identification, Cuellar evaded arrest for more than a year. After the arrest, Lopez's daughter, Viviana Lopez, publicly commented on the case, according to a report from KTSM 9 News on Facebook. The arrest ended the family's long wait.
Why Alameda Avenue Keeps Turning Up in Fatal Crashes
Lopez's death is one entry in a troubling pattern along the corridor. Alameda Avenue has been the subject of a corridor study focused on safety concerns. Regionwide, El Paso recorded more than 201 pedestrian traffic accidents in 2023 alone, resulting in 18 deaths and 42 serious injuries, according to Flores Mendez Law, which also noted that statewide pedestrian fatalities climbed 22 percent over a five-year span.
El Paso has pursued other fatal hit-and-run cases aggressively in recent months. In July, police arrested 21-year-old David McCall after he fled on foot from a Loop 375 crash that killed a Horizon City couple riding a motorcycle, charging him with two counts of collision involving death, per Texas Injury Report. The pattern reflects a broader local push to prosecute drivers who leave fatal scenes rather than call for help.
What Cuellar Faces Next
Cuellar is wanted under Texas Transportation Code § 550.021, which classifies collision involving death — failing to stop and render aid after a fatal crash — as a second-degree felony punishable by 2 to 20 years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000, per the same Texas Injury Report. After being picked up in Maverick County, she was transported to the Tom Bowles Detention Center pending extradition to El Paso, where she faces the pending warrant.
The arrest occurred at U.S. Port of Entry No. 2 in Eagle Pass. The timing of Cuellar's transfer to El Paso County and any additional charges were not specified.
