Harris was arrested in March for his alleged role in the murder of Alvarez-Hernandez, who was killed after a fight on July 31st, 2003, outside a home in Council Bluffs. In 2003, witnesses reported a loud altercation taking place outside the residence and heard Alvarez-Hernandez call for help. Sgt. David Dawson of the Council Bluffs Police Department said the witnesses told police they saw several subjects near the victim who fled prior to police arriving. A then-unknown assailant had stabbed Alvarez-Hernandez to death.

Several pieces of evidence collected at the scene were used to create a DNA profile that belonged to an unknown male. The profile was compared to profiles in state databases but remained unidentified. The case was unsolved for more than 10-years despite an extensive investigation. In late September of 2013, the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation notified the Council Bluffs Police Department that the previously unknown DNA profile had been positively identified as 47-year old Thomas J. Sanchez, of La Vista, Neb. Police reopened the case and followed up on new leads, with the work culminating in Sanchez’s arrest in January.

Sanchez is currently scheduled to go to trial on July 8th.