Man Accused Of Killing UNT Student Captured In Mexico

DALLAS (AP) – A man accused in the death of a University of North Texas student two weeks ago was captured Tuesday in Mexico, Carrollton police said.

Carrollton police said that U.S. and Mexican authorities took 20-year-old Ernesto Reyes into custody as he left a family member’s house in the Mexican town of Celaya Guanajuato, about four hours northeast of Mexico City.

The burned body of 19-year-old Melanie Goodwin was discovered on Sept. 25 near an office complex in Carrollton. A surveillance camera shows a man investigators believe is Reyes dragging a woman’s body out of a car and setting it on fire. Goodwin had been seen earlier that morning at a Denton convenience store near UNT. Security videotape from the Denton convenience store showed a man believed to be Reyes, and he allegedly asked Goodwin for a ride.

The Dallas County Medical Examiner said Goodwin died of multiple blunt force injuries. Donovan Young has been charged with tampering with evidence in the case. Young told police that Reyes arrived at his apartment with Goodwin’s body and asked for help disposing of it, according to an arrest affidavit.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)