Dallas

Suspect in Deadly North Texas Shootings in Custody: Police

Juan Navarro Rios extradited to Dallas County Wednesday after being booked on murder charge

A man suspected in a pair of Dallas-area killings was in the country illegally and had been deported three times to Mexico, U.S. immigration officials said Wednesday.

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Guillermo Luviano-Franco, mugshot from September 2016 arrest in Williamson County, Texas on a Dallas County murder charge.

Meanwhile, Dallas County jail officials discovered the suspect – initially identified as Silvestre Franco-Luviano and Guillermo Luviano-Franco – was using an alias. The 43-year-old suspect's true identity is Juan Navarro Rios, said Dallas County sheriff's spokeswoman Melinda Urbina.

The false identity was discovered as Navarro Rios was being booked into the Dallas County jail after his transfer from the Williamson County Jail in Georgetown. He is suspected of killing a motorist in Dallas and a man at a gas station in nearby Cedar Hill. Police have not released a motive for either slaying, both of which occurred on Sunday night.

Criminal records had identified Navarro Rios over the years by some variation of Silvestre Franco-Luviano. He was initially deported in June 1996 for a felony conviction, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok said Wednesday. ICE declined to say what the felony conviction was, but court records show the Mexican national had a 1995 assault conviction in Dallas and a 1996 conviction for hindering prosecution. Those records don't provide details of the allegations.

Supervisory Deputy Marshal Hector Gomez discusses the arrest in Georgetown of a man in connection with the fatal shooting of two people in North Texas Sunday night.

Navarro Rios returned to the U.S. at some point and was again deported in October 2009 for re-entering by falsely claiming U.S. citizenship, Rusnok said. He again came back into the U.S. and was prosecuted on vehicle burglary charges in the Texas city of Georgetown in 2010 and 2011. He was deported in March 2014 after completing a prison sentence for re-entry after deportation, according to a statement Wednesday from ICE.

He was arrested Tuesday after a standoff at his relatives' apartment in Georgetown, about 25 miles north of Austin, according to police. He was transferred Wednesday from the Williamson County jail to the Dallas County jail after his arrest on a murder warrant in the death of Ruben Moreno, who was in his car when he was shot. He's also a suspect in the death of Welton Betts. Georgetown police also have charged him with vehicle burglary.

Jail records do not list an attorney for Navarro Rios who could comment on the allegations. ICE placed an immigration detainer on him immediately after his arrest, meaning the agency is asking that he not be released.

Georgetown officials detail the arrest of a man in connection with two fatal shootings in Cedar Hill Sunday night.

Suspect Arrested After Standoff in Georgetown

A friend of Welton Betts told NBC 5's media partners at The Dallas Morning News that Betts was killed while returning from Sunday's Dallas Cowboys game.

Police also suspected Navarro Rios in the abduction and robbery of a man doing landscaping work in Georgetown on Monday.

The man suspected of killing two people and injuring another in North Texas overnight Sunday is in custody Tuesday near Austin, police say.

A tip led Georgetown police to an apartment where relatives of Navarro Rios live, Nero said. Tactical squad officers surrounded the apartment at about 5 p.m. Tuesday and evacuated nearby residences. Meanwhile, a small fire broke out inside an apartment that officers believe the Navarro Rios set.

While trying to elude capture in Central Texas, Navarro Rios broke down a wall and slipped into an adjacent, evacuated apartment, Nero said. He then tried to escape on foot, unarmed, but he was tackled and subdued by tactical squad officers, the chief said.

Navarro Rios was unarmed when he was captured, but a .45 caliber handgun and ammunition were found inside the apartment, Nero said.

No injuries were reported in the fire or the arrest.

Manhunt After Deadly Shootings

Investigators said Navarro Rios first fired on vehicles in Dallas late Sunday, killing a man at 4301 Spur 408. Dallas police identified the victim as 33-year-old Ruben Moreno.

Cedar Hill police are searching for the man they say went on a deadly crime spree overnight Sunday that left two people dead and a woman wounded.

Moreno's family asked Navarro Rios to turn himself in Tuesday.

"You did so much to so many people," said the victim's brother, Carlos Moreno. "That person needs to come forward or someone needs to come forward with information. He needs to be off of the streets."

"For my brother's life to end in his own truck, it's not right, just to be sitting there for hours until [police] found him. It hurts, it really hurts," Carlos Moreno added.

Navarro Rios is then believed to have traveled to the intersection of South Broad Street and West Belt Line Road Cedar Hill, where he again began firing on drivers at about 11 p.m. [[394874551,C]]

A woman wounded in the Cedar Hill shooting, who was believed to have been hit by shrapnel or debris, drove to a nearby gas station for help.

Navarro Rios, meanwhile, drove to a Texaco gas station on the 200 block of South U.S. Highway 67 where he fatally shot 44-year-old Welton Betts as he pumped gas, police said. The armed man then got into Betts' car, forced out a passenger and drove away.

Gas station surveillance video released to NBC 5 shows Navarro Rios fatally shoot Betts.

"What happened at that Texaco gas station tell us this person was desperate and capable of anything," said Cedar Hill Police Lt. Colin Chenault. "All appearances at this point, wrong place, wrong time."

Cedar Hill police say they’re searching for an armed man that wounded a woman, killed a man, broke into a home and stole multiple vehicles Sunday night.

Police said Navarro Rios drove only a few miles before abandoning Betts' vehicle.

Navarro Rios, police said, then broke into a nearby home and stole a silver 2014 Lexus sedan. The homeowner wasn't hurt.

The Lexus was found Monday afternoon on the 300 block of Hedgewood Drive in Georgetown, north of Austin.

Earlier in the day, Georgetown Police responded to a carjacking and kidnapping in the 1100 block of Leander Road. The victim was kidnapped at gunpoint and taken along with his vehicle. The victim was released unharmed, police said.

A booking photo from a previous arrest in Williamson County is above.

Police asked anyone with information about the man to call 911 or Cedar Hill police immediately.

Cedar Hill police say they’re searching for an armed man that wounded a woman, killed a man, broke into a home and stole multiple vehicles Sunday night.

NBC 5's Chris Jose contributed to this report.

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