KLTV 7 News Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |Murder suspect captured

Murder suspect captured

Released by Scott Sartain with Titus County Sheriff's Office:

The Titus County Sheriff's Office has received notification from law enforcement officials in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, of the apprehension of Francisco Villela-Andrade, age 24, wanted for the Thanksgiving 2006 murder of Jesse Hernandez in Winfield, Texas.

Titus County sheriff's investigators obtained a warrant for Villela-Andrade's arrest for murder, after conducting an investigation into an early morning report of gunfire in Winfield on Thanksgiving morning 2006. 
Responding sheriff deputies found Hernandez slumped over inside a van on Cleveland Street, dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

"Sheriff investigators had developed information that Villela-Andrade had fled the Titus County area within a few days of the crime.   Investigators learned Villela-Andrade was taken by two individuals from Mt. Pleasant to Tyler and was probably headed to Houston," said Sheriff Tim Ingram. 
"Texas Rangers and U.S. Marshals, worked closely with Titus County sheriff's investigators in attempting to apprehend Villela-Andrade but were unsuccessful in locating him over the past three years," said Sheriff Ingram.

The Titus County sheriff's office, working in conjunction with the Texas Department of Public Safety, were instrumental in getting Villela-Andrade added to the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list in the Spring of 2009.  Villela-Andrade's name, photograph, and warrant information was disseminated statewide and worldwide via the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives website.

Titus county sheriff's investigators were notified by telephone by law enforcement officials in San Luis Potosi, Mexico on Saturday, November 28^th, 2009, that Villela-Andrade was in custody there as a result of one of their officers seeing his photograph on the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives website. 

"San Luis Potosi law enforcement officials informed us that one of their officers, while perusing the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives website, saw Villela-Andrade's photograph and knew his whereabouts and affected his apprehension," said Titus County sheriff's office C.I.D. Captain John Livingston.

"We have been contacted by the U.S.  Marshal's Service who has confirmed that Villela-Andrade is in custody in Mexico pending extradition proceedings to Titus County," added Chief Deputy Scott Sartain.

A Mexican federal judge has issued what is known as a "provincial" warrant for Villela-Andrade's arrest which would permit him to be extradited to Titus County to stand trial on the outstanding murder charge.  Villela-Andrade was subsequently indicted on the murder charge by a Titus County grand jury.

"The sheriff's office is working closely with Titus County district attorney Chuck Bailey in preparing necessary documents to obtain Villela-Andrade's extradition to Titus county," said Sheriff Tim Ingram. 

Ingram added, "I want to thank our district attorney Chuck Bailey for his cooperation and hard work in the investigation, as well as that of Texas Department of Public Safety Sergeant Rex Wilemon who assisted in coordinating the investigation with the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives website, and the U.S. Marshal's Service."