A man has been arrested in the 1998 killing of a 28-year-old Phoenix woman

PHOENIX. Phoenix police say a man has been arrested in connection with a pending 1998 murder.

On July 9, 1998, Sarah Carr, 28, was shot to death in her home near 14th Street and McDowell Road and later died.

The Phoenix Police Department’s homicide unit investigated the case and was only able to find the suspect’s nickname, and the case was eventually closed.

In 2016, cold case detectives were able to use new technology to link the murder to Javier Lorenzano-Núñez, now 58.

Detectives learned that Lorenzano-Nunez had spent years in California after the murder and had most recently lived in Mexico.

A warrant has been issued for Lorenzano-Nunez’s arrest for several years, and the U.S. Department of Justice was recently able to work with law enforcement in Mexico to take Lorenzano-Nunez into custody.

“I think she’s dancing in heaven right now,” Peggy Carr, Sarah’s sister, told Phoenix police after the arrest.

Lorenzo-Nunez was then extradited to Phoenix and taken into Phoenix police custody on October 21, 2024.

“After 26 years, the suspect in the murder of Sarah Carr will now face responsibility and charges related to his actions in July 1998,” the Phoenix Police Department said in a press release. “The Phoenix Police Department’s homicide unit has once again demonstrated its incredible work ethic and its core value of honoring every victim of every homicide in the city, no matter how many years the investigation may be.”