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US Marshals in New York arrest man wanted in Marion County murder, sheriff’s office says

Melvin Arias, 33, awaits extradition at Rikers

Melvin Arias, 33, being arrested by U.S. Marshal Service agents. (Marion County Sheriff's Office)

NEW YORK – A man wanted in connection to a woman’s shooting death earlier this year in Marion Oaks was found living in the Bronx and arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

Melvin Arias, 33, is currently at the Rikers Island - Eric M. Taylor Center as he awaits extradition to Marion County, where he will face a charge of second-degree murder in the January killing of Milagros Guzman Lopez, 47, a news release states.

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Arias is accused of fatally shooting Lopez on Jan. 12 in the parking lot of a shopping plaza where Marion Oaks Boulevard intersects with Marion Oaks Drive, the sheriff’s office said. An arrest affidavit describes video footage and witness testimony from the scene depicting Arias in a verbal argument with Lopez over “money she owed,” the 33-year-old eventually retrieving a rifle from the van he arrived in and shooting Lopez multiple times.

In the video that the affidavit references, a voice could reportedly be heard saying, “Melvin what did you do, why did you do that?” When deputies got to the scene, Lopez was located and pronounced dead, found shot in the head, arm, torso and groin, the affidavit states.

Detectives learned after securing a warrant for Arias’ arrest that he may have fled to New York, eventually determining he was staying at an apartment in the Bronx where he was arrested early Thursday by U.S. Marshals Service agents, according to the release.


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