Witness Led Police To Relative Suspected Of Killing 5-Year-Old
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - There are new developments in the case of a 5-year-old girl murdered in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas. Police now say a teenaged relative killed the little girl.
CBS 11 News learned that police set their sights on one person, after finding the body of Kathrine Alejandra Gonzalez. It was a witness that guided investigators to the suspect.
Freddie Washington lives in the Sontera Palms Apartments, in the 9500 block of Royal Lane.
Thinking back to the events on Sunday Washington said, "A lot of Latin men were running around with her picture on a cell phone, [asking] 'have you seen her?' And I knew I just saw her."
Washington didn't know the little girl's name, but when police started investigating the disappearance of five-year-old Katherine, Washington didn't hesitate to help.
He was especially motivated because he wanted to find the person he'd last seen with the child along the walkways of the northeast Dallas apartment community.
"I was frantic trying to find where he was at, because I know if I find him I'm going to find her," he said.
For nearly three hours family, friends and strangers searched for little Katherine. Ultimately she was found dead in a vacant apartment in the complex.
According to the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office, Katherine was strangled to death.
Police soon arrested 17-year-old Angel Lizandro Sanches-Zenteno. Investigators were told Sanches-Zenteno was the person seen with the little girl early Sunday afternoon. Kathrine had been playing outside with her siblings. Sanches-Zenteno is the child's cousin.
At a press conference early Monday afternoon Major Rob Sherwin, with the Dallas Police Department, spoke briefly about Sanches-Zenteno, "I'm not going to make any statements on what he said to us, but we have probable cause to believe strongly he's responsible for the death of this little girl."
Police did say that while Sanches-Zenteno was with family at the apartment complex, he was not babysitting the little girl.
Sanches-Zenteno faces an immigration charge in addition to the charge of Capital Murder. A $1,000,000 has been set for the teen and he remains in the Dallas County Jail.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Latest News:
Top Trending:
