An arrest has been made in a September 2022 homicide.
Yuma County Sheriff's Office deputies have arrested a man suspected of being the guide for a group of individuals who entered the United States illegally. The incident occurred on September 7, 2022, in the desert area of the Mohawk Mountain Range. The guide, Efrain Leyva-Alverez, 34, was said to the leading the group and is alleged to have caused serious injury to one of the group. Leyva-Alverez told other members of the group that the man was injured and would be left behind. After learning of the incident, Border Patrol agents located the deceased victim. The guide was believed to have fled back to Mexico. Following an investigation by YCSO Investigations Bureau, Leyva-Alverez was identified. He was later detained by the Border Patrol and turned over to Yuma authorities. He was then booked into Yuma County Detention Center and charged with Second Degree Murder.