Inmate who escaped from Virginia jail is captured in Mexico

Inmate who escaped from Virginia jail where he was held for killing North Carolina cop is captured in Mexico

Alder Martin-Sotelo was taken into custody in Guerrero, Mexico, on Thursday
The 26-year-old escaped from the Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, Virginia, last Sunday
Martin-Sotelo was in jail for murdering North Carolina cop Ned Byrd in August 2022

Published: 22:46, 5 May 2023 | Updated: 22:48, 5 May 2023

An inmate who escaped from a Virginia [2] jail where he was being held for the murder of a North Carolina [3] police officer was captured in Mexico [4].

Alder Marin-Sotelo, 26, was taken into custody by authorities in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero on Thursday, the FBI [5] confirmed.

The 26-year-old is facing charges in the August 2022 killing of Wake County, North Carolina, Deputy Ned Byrd.

Marin-Sotelo, an undocumented immigrant, fled from the Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, Virginia, last Sunday.

Alder Marin-Sotelo was captured in Guerrero, Mexico, on Thursday after escaping Sunday from a Virginia jail where he was being held for the August 2022 murder of a North Carolina police officer

Deputy Ned Byrd was shot while on duty on August 11, 2022 and in Wake County, North Carolina.

Byrd, who died a day after the shooting, was a member of the Wake County Sheriff's Office

The U.S. Marshals Service said Friday that Marin-Sotelo had worked with his cellmate to devise a plan to escape.

Marin-Sotelo and a second inmate identified as Bruce Callahan, 44, were able to flee the jail by manipulating 'the locking mechanism on the rear exit door.'

'I think it's like it's fair to reason that they may have talked about (the escape), given that it was so similar,' US Marshals Service Chief Deputy Larry Moltzan told ABC 11. 'But they did not escape at the same time and didn't necessarily help each other in that way.'

The Piedmont Regional Jail Authority Board acknowledged that the prison had several areas with unreliable security systems, but that the area which Marin-Sotelo escaped through was not one of them.

Callahan remained on the run as of Friday. A £10,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to his apprehension.

Alder Martin-Sotelo escaped in a Mustang that his sister arranged to have been parked near the Virginia jail the night of April 29 before he drove off the early morning of April 30

Authorities are not sure how Alder Marin-Sotelo was able to cross into Mexico

Arturo Marin-Sotelo was also charged for murdering Deputy Ned Byrd

Authorities said Marin-Sotelo climbed a fence and then boarded a Mustang that was provided by his sister, Adriana Marin-Sotelo, who in currently in police custody, and traveled almost 2,400 miles to seek refuge in Mexico.

It's unknown how Alder Marin-Sotelo was able to cross into Mexico.

His extradition to the United States is now pending.

Marin-Sotelo and his brother, Arturo Marin-Sotelo, were charged with murdering Byrd.

The deputy, who was in the police force for 13 years, was shot three time in the head and once In the chest on August 11, 2022 and died the following day.

The Wake County Sheriff's Office lauded the multi federal agency effort that led to Alder Marin-Sotelo's arrest in Mexico.

'The arrest of Alder Alfonso Marin-Sotelo allows every employee of the Wake County Sheriff's Office to breathe easier tonight,' Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe said Thursday.

The escape and search opened old wounds for our Office and Deputy Ned Byrd's family.

We have been in contact with his family and are offering support in any way we can.'

References

^ Adry Torres For Dailymail.com (www.dailymail.co.uk)
^ Virginia (www.dailymail.co.uk)
^ North Carolina (www.dailymail.co.uk)
^ Mexico (www.dailymail.co.uk)
^ FBI (www.dailymail.co.uk)