A man suspected of killing three people, including a sleeping toddler, in a San Diego apartment more than 22 years ago, has been arrested in Mexico and returned to the United States, San Diego police said.
Sergio Lopez Contreras, 44, was booked into the San Diego Central Jail on Wednesday and is scheduled for arraignment Friday in San Diego Superior Court.
The victims were 20-year-old Michael Plummer, his girlfriend Adah Pearson, 18, and their 21-month-old nephew Julio Rangel. Police said the boy’s parents were inside the apartment but were not injured by the hail of bullets.
San Diego police Lt. Jud Campbell said Thursday that investigators suspect the killings were drug-related.
Court records indicate that prosecutors filed charges against López Contreras in 2007, charging him with three counts of murder with special circumstances charges of using a rifle in the killings and lying in wait.
The shooting occurred just after 11 pm on September 4, 2000, at an apartment complex in the Normal Heights neighborhood.
Police told the San Diego Union-Tribune at the time that Plummer had returned to the apartment after obtaining drugs from a dealer at another apartment, but did not pay for them.
The dealer appeared outside the apartment where Plummer and the others were demanding payment and then opened fire through the door, police said.
“About 14 rounds flew through the living room,” police Lt. Ray Sigwalt told The Union-Tribune.
Plummer died at the scene. Pearson and the boy were taken to hospitals, where they died.
At the time, police said they believed the suspected shooter fled to Tijuana, where he had relatives.
Campbell said López Contreras was arrested in Mexico on unrelated charges, but did not say when.
On Wednesday, with the cooperation of US and Mexican authorities, López Contreras crossed the border, was transferred to San Diego police custody and jailed.
