A woman sought in connection with the shooting of a man found dead in Carson remained at large Saturday, a day after her ex-husband, also wanted in the killing, was extradited to the U.S. from Mexico. Her 15-year-old daughter remains missing.
Roman Cerratos, 39, was arrested in Mexico on Thursday and was handed over to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Friday, the agency said. He was booked on suspicion of murder in the death of Jeffrey Appel, a 32-year-old Las Vegas man discovered with gunshot wounds to his neck and torso inside a parked car on Carson Plaza Drive near Del Amo Boulevard on April 16.
Cerratos’ ex-wife, 40-year-old Maricela Mercado, was also named a suspect in the case. She was last seen with Cerratos and her 15-year-old daughter in Torrance on April 17, according to the Sheriff’s Department. CHP issued an Amber Alert for the teen the next day.
On April 19, a BMW associated with the Amber Alert was found unoccupied in the border town of San Ysidro.
Assistance from Mexican authorities and the FBI led to Cerratos’ arrest at an “undisclosed location” in Mexico, the Sheriff’s Department said.
The county and the city of Carson previously offered a $20,000 reward for information in connection with the April killing.
Officials have not provided any information about a possible motive.
