May 27--A two-month search for an ex-LAPD officer accused of fatally shooting a man near a Pomona nightclub has ended after the 27-year-old was arrested in Mexico, officials said.
The Chihuahua state attorney general's office confirmed that Henry Solis was apprehended Tuesday in Juarez, a border city located across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.
On Tuesday, the slain man's mother welcomed the news of Solis' arrest. Lidia Rodriguez said she still keeps a nightly vigil at the spot where her son was shot, praying federal agents would find the man accused of killing him.
"If it's true he got caught, hallelujah," Lidia Rodriguez said. "We think this is God's work."
Authorities quickly identified Solis as their suspect in the fatal March 13 shooting of Salome Rodriguez Jr., 27, in a Pomona parking lot. The then-rookie officer was off duty at the time of the shooting, officials said, but didn't show up to work the day after.
After the shooting, Solis allegedly dumped his Volkswagen Jetta a few blocks away, then rode with his father to El Paso, Texas, according to court documents. A surveillance camera captured footage of the two men crossing the border in Mexico.
Solis' father, Victor Solis, had initially told investigators he dropped his son off at an El Paso bus station, authorities said. Nearly two weeks after the shooting, Victor Solis was arrested and charged with lying to federal agents.
After Pomona police named Henry Solis as the suspect in the killing, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck fired the rookie officer and former Marine. Solis joined the LAPD in June and was assigned to the department's Devonshire Division.
The FBI also offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to Solis' arrest.
UPDATE
6:08 p.m.: This post was updated to include details of the arrest and a comment from Salome Rodriguez Jr.'s mother.
This post was first published at 4:11 p.m.
