Murder suspect arrested in Mexico after 19-year manhunt

Riverside police and their federal law enforcement partners arrested a man in Mexico accused of killing someone 19 years ago.

In June 2005, 38-year-old Alfonso Vera tried to stop a man from beating his girlfriend in the 4700 block of Doane Avenue in Riverside. As Vera tried to protect the woman, then 32-year-old Luis Contreras allegedly stepped in and shot Vera multiple times before leaving him to die. 

Detectives said witnesses saw two cars leaving the area. Investigators eventually arrested two of three suspects but could not track down Contreras before he traveled to Mexico. In July 2005, police issued an arrest warrant for the suspect but could not find him until 19 years later. 

In June 2024, the Riverside Police Department’s Homicide Cold Case Unit reignited the search, eventually teaming up with the department’s METRO Team and the US Marshals Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force. 

About a month later, Mexican police arrested Contreras with the help of the Marsals. Authorities transferred him to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department jail, where he was booked for murder and awaits prosecution.

One of the other suspects arrested in the case was charged as an accessory to the murder and served three years in prison. Authorities released another suspect due to a lack of evidence. 

Anyone with information about the case should call the Homicide Cold Case Unit at (951) 320-8000 or email detectives at HomicideColdCase@RiversideCA.gov.