The FBI has arrested a man accused of the 2000 rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl in Philadelphia.
Alexis Flores has been on the run for more than 20 years after he was accused of the rape and slaying of I’riana DeJesus. FBI Director Kash Patel announced that Flores had been apprehended in Honduras in an X post on Wednesday.
He wrote that after more than two decades at large, “this arrest proves time and distance do not shield violent offenders from justice.”
Flores was arrested for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, according to the FBI. There is no statute of limitations prohibiting prosecutors from bringing murder charges against Flores.
I’riana was first reported missing in late July of 2000. On August 3, 2000, the girl was found strangled to death inside a Philadelphia apartment building.
Officials identified Flores as a possible suspect in the girl’s kidnapping and murder after he was arrested for forgery in Phoenix in 2004.
Immigration officials at the time deported Flores to Honduras. It was only after he was deported that DNA analysis allegedly linked him to the girl’s death.
“Thanks to relentless work by our international partners and FBI personnel, a fugitive accused of an unthinkable crime against a child is now in custody and on a path back to the United States,” Patel wrote.
Flores has remained at-large since then and was added to the FBI’s top 10 most wanted fugitives list in 2007, and remained on the list until 2025. In 2023, a reward for Flores’ arrest was increased from $100,000 to $250,000.
“This individual had been on the run for over 20 years connected to the 2000 murder of a 5-year-old child. Our FBI Transnational Anti-Gang Task Force in Honduras got him – thanks to the help of great partners,” Patel wrote.
Philadelphia residents at a daycare named after the girl celebrated the news that Flores had been apprehended, according to NBC 10.
