Arrest Made in Cold Case Murder of Teenager Elena Lasswell 20 Years Later

The family of Elena Lasswell is finally getting answers.

Two decades to the day after the 15-year-old was murdered in Phoenix, Arizona, Sergio Francisco Reyes has been arrested Phoenix Police Department said in a July 11 press release shared with E! News July 11.

Reyes was extradited from Mexico where he had been living on July 10 and booked into Maricopa County Jail on six charges, including sexual assault and first-degree murder, as well as criminal trespass, burglary and kidnapping.

The 37-year-old's arrest comes on a particularly poignant day as exactly 20 years ago on July 10, 2004 Phoenix police officers "responded to a house in the neighborhood of 2700 North 21st Drive" just after 8 p.m. and were directed to a room where they found Lasswell.

"Emergency lifesaving measures were attempted," the press release read, "but Lasswell did not survive her injuries and was pronounced deceased on scene."

At the time, detectives were unable to name a suspect, but in 2012, cold case detectives say they were able to use a DNA collection technique that identified a profile matching Reyes. The following year he was confirmed as the lead suspect and in 2014 he was indicted by the Maricopa County Grand Jury, although he was living in Mexico at the time.

But it wasn't until 10 years later that, with the help of U.S. Marshals, Phoenix Police were able to complete the extradition process and Reyes was arrested for the sexual attack and murder of Lasswell.

"It's been 20 years to the day 15-year-old Elena Lasswell was murdered inside her home," Phoenix Police Detective Dominick Roestenberg said in a video shared to the department's page on X, formerly Twitter, July 10. "So it's a big day not only for the Phoenix Police Department, but more importantly, Elena's family. They've been waiting 20 years for justice."

"It took a while," he continued. "But through perseverance, hard work and dedication, we were able to get Sergio Reyes back to Phoenix to face charges."

Following the arrest, Lasswell's aunt Katie Tourville spoke out about how her family was coping with the news.

"Knowing that someone is being held responsible feels awesome," she told Fox 10 Phoenix July 10. "It's been a long haul, and thank god for Phoenix PD. They have been absolutely amazing. I just really felt that they were on the right trail, and that they would get it. I just didn't know when."

Tourville also shared that while Lasswell's mother, Molly Lasswell, sadly passed away in the years since her daughter's murder, she knows her mother would be relieved by the arrest.

"She wanted him to be caught," Tourville explained, "so he couldn't hurt anyone else."