A suspect has been arrested 26 years after killing a Phoenix woman

PHOENIX (AZ Family) — The case came to an end after the suspect was arrested in the murder of a Valley woman more than two decades ago.

The Phoenix Police Department announced Friday that 58-year-old Javier Lorenzano-Nunez has been found in Mexico and taken into custody in connection with the 1998 death of 28-year-old Sarah Jane Carr.

On July 9, 1998, Phoenix police were called to a shooting at a nearby home 14th Street and McDowell Road before midnight Once inside, officers found Carr had been shot in the face and had died from her injuries.

Authorities say the first detectives in the case only had the suspect’s nickname, but his identity is still unknown.

“We knew who did it, but we just didn’t have the person’s name,” the detective said. Dominique Restenberg of the Phoenix Police Homicide Unit.

The investigation was closed until 2016, when detectives identified the suspect as Lorenzano-Nunez.

Lorenzano-Nunez reportedly spent years in California after the murder and has been living in Mexico for the past decade.

Phoenix police and the Maricopa County District Attorney’s Office issued an indictment and warrant for Lorenzano-Nunez’s arrest. Detectives in Phoenix then contacted the US Department of Justice, which helped Mexican law enforcement find and arrest him.

Lorenzano-Nunez was returned to Phoenix Wednesday night and arraigned on one count of first-degree murder. His identity was confirmed by fingerprints.

Carr was the mother of six children and was loved by many.

“That was definitely one of the reasons that helped me to pave the way to law enforcement. The feeling that I will never get justice. It was something I didn’t want other people to experience,” said Garrett Miller, one of her children, who is now a police officer in Austin, Texas. “If I could give people a glimmer of hope that something can be done or some type of closure, I would try to do that because I don’t want them to feel what I felt.”

“I know she is very proud of Garrett and all her children. They are doing very well. She’s probably crying tears of joy right now,” said Peggy Carr, Sarah’s sister.

“After 26 years, the suspect in Sarah Carr’s murder will now face responsibility and charges related to his actions in July 1998. 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,” the police department said in a statement.

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