"We waited two long years for this, and we had given up hope," one victim's family member said.
Authorities in Texas have charged a man with murder after they were able to use DNA to link him to two separate murder cases.
According to an affidavit obtained by CBS Austin and KXAN, Luis Fernando Benitez Gonzalez was arrested in Dallas on April 27 and later charged with first-degree murder in connection with the June 2024 death of Alyssa Ann Rivera. While in custody, authorities said the man confessed to the April 2018 killing of Alba Jenisse Aviles Marti.
Investigators with the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force took Gonzalez, 26, into custody after locating him at an apartment complex in Dallas.
Rivera's body was discovered on June 21, 2024, by Austin police officers, CBS Austin and KXAN reported. She was found face down in the entryway of an abandoned home near the city's East Metcalfe Road. Rivera was 34 years old.
Investigators believe Rivera had been forcibly dragged into the residence and attempted to escape. Her face had apparent blunt-force injuries and signs of strangulation, according to CBS Austin and KXAN, which cited the affidavit.
Drag marks, blood evidence and handprints were discovered at the scene, the outlets said.
Police later found surveillance footage that showed Rivera walking with a man southbound on Metcalfe Road at approximately 1:46 a.m. on June 19, about two days before her body was discovered, CBS Austin and KXAN reported.
Rivera's autopsy showed that she died from trauma to the head and blunt-force injuries. Homicide was listed as her manner of death.
During questioning, CBS Austin reported that Gonzalez was presented with DNA evidence that linked Rivera's death to that of another woman: Marti.
She was last seen on April 14, 2018, leaving Club Caribe, a bar on Felter Lane in south Austin, with an unidentified man, the outlet said, citing the affidavit.
Marti's body was discovered in her car on an abandoned dirt road driveway on Old San Antonio Road in Dale, located about 30 miles outside Austin. An autopsy showed that the cause of death was strangulation, and Marti had been sexually assaulted.
Investigators previously linked both cases in 2024 when the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) showed that the same DNA was allegedly collected at both crime scenes.
A breakthrough came in 2025 when Austin police were investigating two aggravated assault shootings involving women in November and December that year. The two victims identified the same suspect by using a cellphone photo, authorities said, per KXAN.
According to the outlet, detectives later identified the phone as belonging to Gonzalez, and ballistics evidence previously submitted to the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network showed a firearm connection.
Data pulled from Gonzalez's phone also showed that he had been about 700 meters from where Marti's car was found in Dale in 2018, KXAN reported, citing the affidavit.
Following his arrest, Gonzalez reportedly confessed to killing both women. KXAN and CBS Austin reported that the man told detectives that Rivera attacked him during an argument over drugs, and he claimed he placed her in a chokehold before dragging her body into the house. The affidavit stated that his version of events was contradicted by forensic evidence, per the outlets.
Gonzalez then reportedly admitted that he killed Marti in 2018 after an argument over money. The outlets said that investigators alleged in the affidavit that Gonzalez strangled Marti with a seatbelt before leaving her in the car.
Gonzalez reportedly told investigators that the two killings were self-defense. However, investigators wrote that the evidence showed a "pattern of violent offenses."
Rivera's family told CBS Austin that Gonzalez's arrest brought them some relief, along with new feelings of grief.
"It was just like getting the call when we lost her, when they called to tell us that she was gone. The emotions were high," stepmother Wendy Rivera told the outlet.
Rivera was someone who "lit up the room" when she walked in, her stepparent said. "If you met Alyssa once, you would never forget her. Her smile was infectious."
"We waited two long years for this, and we had given up hope. So, we're very happy that he's now in custody," she added. "We finally have answers we didn't have before."
In addition to the first-degree murder charge, Gonzalez is also facing two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon tied to the 2025 shootings. It is not immediately clear if he will face murder charges in connection with Marti's death or if he has legal representation to comment on his behalf.