Suspect in slaying of Arlington student to return from Mexico
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
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The suspect in the slaying of a 19-year-old Arlington woman is scheduled to be brought back to Dallas County at the end of the month, officials said.
Mexican authorities agreed to hand over Ernesto Pina Reyes, 21, after the Dallas County district attorney's office waived the death penalty, said Jamille Bradfield, a spokeswoman for the office.
If convicted of capital murder, Reyes faces life in prison.
The burned body of Melanie Goodwin, a University of North Texas sophomore, was found early Sept. 25 in the 3200 block of Keller Springs Road in Carrollton.
Investigators have said that they do not believe Goodwin and Reyes knew each other. The police investigation indicated that the two met for the first time about 1:40 a.m. Sept. 25 at a convenience store at Mayhill Road and Interstate 35E in Denton.
A friend of Reyes' told investigators that he saw Reyes with Goodwin's body and helped him destroy evidence, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Reyes was arrested by a fugitive task force a month later at a relative's house in central Mexico.
njones@star-telegram.com
