Maria Narez, 48, was arrested Saturday, August 8, in Mexico following a joint international law enforcement operation after nearly 30 years on the run.
Narez jumped a $25,000 bond while facing capital murder charges in Tarrant County for the death of her 3-year-old daughter.
She was originally arrested in Tarrant County in late 1996 after authorities alleged she killed her young daughter, Kasandra L. White.
The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office maintained its pursuit of Narez throughout her decades on the run.
“The DA’s office never gave up on bringing Narez back to face the charge against her and answer for the death of her daughter,” the county’s office said in a statement.
The arrest came after decades of investigative work by authorities.
The Mexico Interpol, the U.S. Marshals Mexico Foreign Field Office, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Justice-Office of International Affairs and DA Investigators Tiffany Johnson and Victor Espino-Nevarez worked together on the investigation.
Narez remains in custody in Mexico while authorities begin the formal international extradition proceedings required to return her to the United States.
Once the extradition process is completed, she will be transferred to Tarrant County, Texas, where she is scheduled to be formally arraigned on the capital murder charge before a state district judge.
In the viral moment that brought the case back into public focus, Narez’s initial arrest in late 1996 revealed the tragic circumstances of her daughter’s death.
Narez was originally arrested in Tarrant County in late 1996 after authorities alleged she killed her young daughter, Kasandra L. White.
In mid-November 1996, Narez shook her daughter, Kasandra White, and threw the child into a wall, causing her head to strike a door, according to the 1999 Tarrant County grand jury indictment.
A Tarrant County grand jury indicted Narez on a capital murder charge in April 1997. However, after a judge reduced her bond to $25,000, Narez failed to appear for court proceedings later that year.
A warrant was issued for her arrest in late 1997 after her bond was forfeited, but she left the country and remained a fugitive for nearly 30 years.
Narez is expected to face trial on the decades-old capital murder charge in Tarrant County.