Arrest made in connection to body found in vehicle in Otero County
CHAPARRAL, N.M. (KFOX14) — El Paso police officers have made an arrest in connection to the case where a body was found inside a vehicle at a towing facility in Chaparral.
A man already at the El Paso County Detention Center on unrelated charges, identified as 35-year-old Jevare Stephawn Freeman-Handy, was rebooked Tuesday for murder.
New Mexico authorities coordinated with El Paso police detectives after New Mexico officers discovered the body of a man inside a vehicle in Chaparral.
The body found was identified as 37-year-old Rodolfo Fuentes.
The investigation revealed that Fuentes was killed at 921 N. Zaragoza between Nov. 15 and 20.
Detectives and US Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force agents rebooked Freeman-Handy.
Deputies were seen and heard on New Mexico State Police Department dash camera video denying reports of a body in the back of a vehicle.
KFOX14 has been trying to get hold of the Otero County Sheriff's Office for three weeks.
The sheriff's office provided a statement on Jan. 6.
The interaction observed on the video between the Deputy and the reporting party is not representative of the professional conduct required of our employees.
The call about the alleged body was first made on Nov. 20.
The caller said there was a body sitting in a car at a trailer park in Chaparral, New Mexico.
Otero County Sheriff's Office deputies and New Mexico State Police went to the scene to investigate, but the body wasn't found until Dec. 7 at a towing yard a few blocks away.
Deputies said the body was decomposed and had been sitting inside the vehicle for two weeks.
This is not the first time Freeman-Handy has gotten in trouble with the law. He was previously accused of attacking people at a Whataburger in a violent incident on "Live PD" in 2018, according to El Paso Times.
The reality policing TV program showed Freeman was half-naked behind the grill in the restaurant kitchen when an El Paso police officer shocked him with a taser to subdue him, the report stated.
Freeman also was wanted on a parole violation stemming from an attempted murder conviction in 2011, according to the El Paso Times.
He is being held at the jail on a $2 million bond.
KFOX14 filed a request for the autopsy reports out of Bernalillo County, New Mexico.
Once we hear back we will be sure to update you.
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