TEMPE, Ariz. -
Tempe Police have made an arrest in the murder of a 20-year-old man that occurred 12 years ago.
Albert Carreon, age 50, was arrested for first degree murder in the death of Jose "Joey" Gonzalez.
Gonzalez's family members reported him missing on December 18, 2000. For 12 years, his family has wondered why he was murdered.
"Why would this person do that to my son?" said Kathy Wilson, the victim's mother.
Gonzalez was last seen alive driving his girlfriend's car. Two days later, his body was found in his girlfriend's parked car at the Fiesta Village Townhouse complex in the 1400 Block of West La Jolla in Tempe.
Tempe Police determined he was shot and killed in another location, and his body dumped.
Police say Carreon was identified as a possible suspect in 2005, but there was not enough evidence at the time to charge him.
Since then, detectives have collected additional evidence, including DNA, to arrest him.
The victim's family is grateful to detectives for trying to find his killer for over a decade.
"Thank you very much for staying with us. I mean they helped me all through it," said Wilson.
"It's such a great feeling, you know, to know that we're in the process of getting justice," said Gonzalez's sister Marianne.
Carreon is already on death row in Arizona. He was sentenced to death in April 2003, convicted of first degree murder in the death of Armando Hernandez, who was killed in 2001.
A motive for the murder is unknown. Police did not describe the additional evidence.
