By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A man who police believe killed a Del Rio woman by setting her on fire in the summer of 2018 has been returned from Mexico to face justice here.
Oscar Enrique Gonzalez, 38, arrived at the Val Verde County Detention Center about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday under heavy guard in a small convoy of unmarked vehicles.
Gonzalez is accused of murdering Sabrina Cervantes, a Del Rio nurse and the mother of three children, at a house at 100 Ridgewood Drive off North Bedell Avenue in late July 2018. Del Rio police believe Gonzalez set Cervantes on fire at the house.
A passing Del Rio Police Department officer saw the fire and stopped to investigate. Cervantes was rushed to the emergency room here and then flown to San Antonio, where she died hours later.
Gonzalez is believed to have absconded to Mexico after Cervantes’ death, and law enforcement officers have been looking to return him to Del Rio ever since.
Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez confirmed the transfer to The 830 Times late Tuesday afternoon.
“The individual they are bringing in is Oscar Enrique Gonzalez. He is being brought from Mexico City on a warrant issued out of the 63rd Judicial District Court, here in Del Rio, Val Verde County. Count one is capital murder, count two is murder and then the third count is arson,” Martinez said in an interview at the sheriff’s office just prior to Gonzalez’s arrival.
“An officer from the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, along with one of my deputies flew from San Antonio to Mexico City on Monday and early this morning, Gonzalez was brought back on the provisional warrant that was served by the U.S. Marshal’s Service, and he will be turned over to our custody here shortly,” the sheriff added.
He said the case against Gonzalez was investigated by the Del Rio Police Department.
“I was approached in either 2018 or 2019 by the U.S. marshals, because we knew this individual had fled to Mexico, to see if we wanted them to adopt this case. It’s been a long process to get the provisional warrant and to have him extradited out of Mexico,” Martinez said.
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