A teen was gunned down in Durham. How police caught his suspected killer 24 years later.
Authorities have made an arrest in a cold case murder that happened in East Durham 24 years ago.
Durham police have charged Saturnino Gutierrez-Garcia, 46, in the 1999 murder of Jesus Enrique Garza, who was 19 when he was killed.
Gutierrez-Garcia was 22 at the time of the shooting.
He is being held without bond in the Durham County Detention Center, police said Thursday.
Gutierrez-Garcia is accused of shooting Garza as the teen sat in a white Geo Storm at 827 North Miami Boulevard on Sept. 16, 1999. Police obtained a warrant charging Gutierrez-Garcia with Garza’s murder, but failed to locate and detain him. He had been on the run ever since.
Authorities received information that he was living in Mount Airy, in northwestern North Carolina.
The Surry County Sheriff’s Office located and arrested Gutierrez-Garcia on Oct. 7, Durham police said.
Teen shot outside Mexican bakery
Garza was shot around 1:15 p.m. on a Thursday in front of more than 20 witnesses, according to The News & Observer and Durham Herald-Sun archives.
He was parked in front of a Mexican bakery that was located on North Miami Boulevard. Police named Gutierrez-Garcia, known as “Nino” as a suspect at large.
The driver’s window of the Geo was shattered, and the front windshield was damaged by apparent gunfire. The gunmen fled in a Mustang, according to previous reporting.
Gutierrez-Garcia’s last known address was at an apartment complex on the 200 block of Alston Avenue in East Durham.
“Our investigators would also like to thank the Garza family for their patience as we worked to bring this case to a close,” police said in a news release.
Anyone with any information in this homicide is asked to call Investigator R. Armstrong at 919-560-4440 ext. 29325 or CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases and callers never have to identify themselves.
This story was originally published October 12, 2023 at 11:52 AM with the headline "A teen was gunned down in Durham. How police caught his suspected killer 24 years later.."
