A two-month manhunt for a Pierce County murder suspect came to an end in Mexico Thursday morning.
The man accused of shooting and killing a Parkland teenager after stealing his jewelry was arrested more than 2,500 miles away in Ocatlán, Jalisco, Mexico.
The alleged victim was 17-year-old Braylon Diaz.
Diaz’s mother, Miranda Grimmett, told KIRO 7 she can now finally start to find closure.
“I can’t believe he got that far,” she said.
Grimmett was shocked to learn her son’s accused killer, Brandon Torres-Mesa, not only made it out of the country, but hundreds of miles past the border. While the suspect was on the run, she spent two months suffering.
“They have been hell. Always looking over, always wondering, always stressed about my kids,” she said. “I’m just happy. I’m mad he was out there living while my son was in the ground. I am just very relieved that they have him.”
Torres-Mesa’s arrest was covered extensively by Mexican media. A video from Jalisco journalist Israel Orozco shows him being transported by helicopter and perp-walked by heavily armed officers.
The arrest marked the conclusion of an international effort to bring Torres-Mesa to justice.
“Fortunately, we have partners with the FBI as well as the Mexico authorities that have assisted with this,” Deputy Carly Cappetto of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to investigators, Torres-Mesa pulled up alongside Diaz while he was walking home, robbed him of his necklace, then shot and killed him in front of his girlfriend.
They described it as a random attack.
“It was a devastating and just unnecessary act of violence,” Cappetto said.
Torres-Mesa was the last of three suspects to be arrested in the case.
Grimett told KIRO 7 she plans to be in court when he finally returns to Pierce County, but even justice won’t bring her son back.
“He was just a really good kid,” she said. “He was on his way to do great things.”
The Pierce County Sheriff’s office said there is not yet a timeline for the suspect’s extradition to Washington.