Texas Teen Facing Capital Murder Charges After Being Subject of AMBER Alert

A Texas teenager who was initially the subject of an AMBER Alert last week now faces capital murder charges, according to police records and a press release.

Garland police discovered the body of 21-year-old Arturo Peña in a car in Garland, Texas, on Tuesday, two days after he was reported missing, they said in a Facebook statement Tuesday.

Police arrived at the scene after reports of a man passed out in a car. When they arrived at the scene, police determined that Peña had been shot, according to the release.

On Friday, a statement said police had identified 17-year-old Natalie Navarro as one of two suspects in the shooting. She was arrested and is currently being held in the Webb County Jail.

Arturo Pena.

GoFundMe

She was arraigned there, but still needs to be transported to the Dallas County Jail before being formally charged, a process that could take up to 15 days, Sergeant Richard Maldonado, a lieutenant with the Garland Police Department, told PEOPLE on Monday.

A day before Navarro’s arrest, Dallas police issued an Amber Alert for the teenager after she was last seen Thursday afternoon and authorities believed she was “in grave or imminent danger,” NBC DFW reported.

“Navarro was subsequently located by police and is currently safe and in custody,” police later said in a statement on social media.

Maldonado told PEOPLE that the homicide warrant and the AMBER alert are independent of each other.

Yordy Martinez, 21, who was initially identified as a suspect in the alleged kidnapping by AMBER Alert published by police, also faces an arrest warrant as a “person of interest” in Peña’s death, Garland police said in a statement on Facebook.

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His whereabouts are unknown, Maldonado told PEOPLE.

“I believe they knew each other, but I don’t know what kind of relationship they had,” he said of the relationship between Martinez and Navarro.

Navarro is currently facing capital murder charges and is being held on $1 million bail, according to jail records. In Texas, such a charge could result in life in prison without parole or the death penalty. The charge of murder is punishable by up to life in prison, with the possibility of parole.

Maldonado said Navarro has yet to enter a plea and could not confirm whether she has retained an attorney.

Yordy Martinez

Yordy Martinez.

Texas Amber Alerts

In a GoFundMe set up last week, Veronica Lopez, a woman who identified herself as Peña’s wife, said, “Our angel was viciously taken from his family and loved ones.”

Although police did not release a date of death in statements, Lopez said at the fundraiser that Peña died on Aug. 26, three days before police discovered his body.

Lopez did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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Source: HIS Education

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