Joliet Teenage Killer Captured In Tijuana Mexico: Police

JOLIET, IL — Joliet police spokesman Dwayne English announced that a 17-year-old Joliet teenager who managed to flee all the way to Tijuana, Mexico, has been returned to Joliet to face first-degree murder charges as an adult.

Nathan Melchor is now staying in the River Valley Justice Center on McDonough Street, where he faces two counts of first-degree murder in the June 6 daytime killing of 20-year-old Latrel Smith-Vaden on Joliet's east side.

According to English:

At 10:18 a.m. on June 6, officers responded to the 600 block of East Benton Street for shots fired. Officers found the 20-year-old victim in the street with a gunshot wound to his head.

The victim died at Silver Cross Hospital.

"Throughout their investigation, Joliet Police Detectives identified Melchor as a suspect in this murder," English revealed in Thursday's press release.

He said that three days after the homicide, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Melchor on the murder charges and a Will County judge set bail at $5 million.

On August 30, the 17-year-old Melchor was captured in Tijuana, Mexico by Mexican authorities in conjunction with the United States Marshals Service. Melchor is the second suspect under arrest as Emilio Aldape, 18, was taken into custody on July 5, in South Bend, Indiana.