Fugitive returned to Texas to face murder charge in 2013 Carrollton shooting death
A former Carrollton-Farmers Branch school employee who had been on the run since 2013 after being accused of fatally shooting his supervisor was captured in Mexico and has been returned to Texas, Carrollton police said Thursday.
U.S. marshals returned Gerardo Alvarez, 44, on Tuesday, and transferred him to the custody of Carrollton police at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
Alvarez is accused of killing Todd Fenton on Oct. 2, 2013, at a school district maintenance barn office. Fenton died from several gunshot wounds to his back.
Alvarez was captured in October 2020 and fought extradition to Carrollton until this week. He faces a charge of murder.
Carrollton police did not release any information on a motive for the slaying.
“This arrest was the result of dogged determination and great police work by all involved,” said Carrollton Police Chief Derick Miller in a Thursday news release. “The partnership of the U.S. Marshals, our own detective assigned to their fugitive task force, as well as the authorities in Mexico will finally allow the family of Todd Fenton some measure of peace. It may have been justice delayed, but it was not denied.”
A warrant written by Carrollton Detective B. Turner gave this account of the shooting in October 2013:
Alvarez, a Grand Prairie resident at the time, was an employee at the Carrollton-Farmers Branch school district, and Fenton was his supervisor in the groundskeeping department.
Video surveillance showed Alvarez drove up and arrived at the school district maintenance barn at about 3 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2013. He looked around and then walked into the maintenance barn.
A witness would later tell Carrollton police he heard six gunshots that afternoon, saying four were rapid shots and then two slower.
Just seconds later, Alvarez returned to his car and withdrew an object from his waistband and tossed it into his car. Detectives believe it was a handgun.
At about 7 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2013, James Webb, who was a dispatcher for the Dallas County schools and worked out of the Carrollton/Farmers Branch school district building, drove past the maintenance building. He saw a truck and noticed that a roll-up door was open and lights were on. He did not see anyone.
Shortly before 11:30 p.m. that same night, Webb clocked out and drove by the maintenance building, again seeing a truck, a door open and lights on. Webb stopped, walked inside of the office and found Fenton’s body.
During interviews, Carrollton police learned that Alvarez had shown a co-worker a handgun and told him to worry because he had a license for it.
At the time of the killing, Carrollton police confirmed Alvarez had a concealed handgun license that expired in November 2014.
Alvarez did not show up for work on Oct. 3, 2013, and Carrollton detectives determined he had fled to Mexico.
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 12:51 PM.
