A holiday celebration turned tragic on the evening of July 4, 2024, ending the life of Hector Alvarez Rosales, a 46-year-old Hispanic man, in Dallas, Texas. Little is publicly known about Hector’s personal life, his family, or his work, but his death prompted a months-long, multi-state search for the man authorities would accuse of his murder.
The incident unfolded in the East Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas. At approximately 9:55 p.m., as Fourth of July festivities were underway across the city, Dallas Police officers were dispatched to a shooting call at a residence in the 2100 block of 52nd Street, near South Lancaster Road. Inside the home, they discovered Hector Alvarez Rosales suffering from gunshot wounds. Despite the arrival of emergency medical services, his injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Homicide detectives with the Dallas Police Department immediately began processing the scene and interviewing potential witnesses.
The investigation quickly yielded a significant lead. Investigators identified a suspect, 26-year-old Angel Kelly Alejandro, and determined that he and Rosales were acquainted with each other. While authorities did not elaborate on the nature of their relationship or a possible motive for the shooting, they gathered enough evidence to secure an arrest warrant for Alejandro on a charge of murder.
However, Angel Alejandro had fled and his whereabouts were unknown. The Dallas Police Department released his name and description to the public, asking for any information that could lead to his capture. The case, documented under number 102824-2024, remained active as detectives pursued leads. Months passed, and by December 2024, police were still seeking public assistance in locating the fugitive, who was now 27 years old.
The manhunt came to a surprising end more than seven months after the murder and over a thousand miles away. On February 20, 2025, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper was patrolling Interstate 75 in Collier County, Florida—a stretch of road famously known as Alligator Alley. Just after 1:00 p.m., the trooper spotted a man walking alongside the remote highway near mile marker 84. When approached, the pedestrian first gave his name as "Recardo" but quickly recanted and identified himself as Angel Kelly Alejandro of Irving, Texas.
A routine identification check confirmed he was the man wanted by the Dallas Police Department for the murder of Hector Alvarez Rosales. The check also revealed that Alejandro, who was also known by the nickname "Garfield," was a fugitive from justice with two additional outstanding warrants for Child Sex Contact and Possession with Intent to Promote Child Pornography.
Alejandro was immediately arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol without incident. He was transported to the Collier County Jail, where he was held as a fugitive from justice. As of February 2025, he was awaiting extradition back to Texas to face the murder charge in Dallas County, as well as the other serious charges against him. The arrest marked a major breakthrough in the case, bringing the long search to a close and setting the stage for legal proceedings in the death of Hector Alvarez Rosales.
