PASADENA, Texas – Police have made an arrested in a cold case slaying.
Pasadena police said Edlyn Villegas Munoz's body was found beneath a bridge over a drainage canal in the 100 block of Queens Road on New Year's Day in 2012.
Recommended Videos
According to authorities, a Crime Stoppers tip made in January led police to the suspect, 27-year-old Fransisco J. Machado Lopez.
Police said Lopez had solicited assistance from an acquaintance in moving Munoz's body the night she died.
Investigators said that acquaintance declined and refused any involvement. Months later, that person told someone what happened, which led to the tip, police said.
Detectives found Lopez lived in the 2700 block of Perez Road. That location was along the route Munoz took on her walk home from a nightclub on Spencer Highway the night of her death, police said.
According to authorities, Lopez an acquaintance of one or more members of the victim's family.
Police arrested him in New Jersey, where he has been living with relatives, and brought him back to Pasadena. He is charged with murder.
Police said Lopez is also charged with sexual assault of a child in an unrelated case involving a teenage girl.