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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Two years after a Springfield woman’s murder, her ex-boyfriend wanted for the crime has been caught.
The Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office, Springfield Police Department and the U.S. Marshal’s Service jointly announced on Thursday that Gabriel P. Calixto was apprehended in Mexico. He was wanted on an arrest warrant that charged him with first-degree murder in the death of 24-year-old Emma Shafer.
Shafer was stabbed to death at her apartment the night of July 11, 2023. Police were informed of the crime by Calixto’s sister, who reported that he had possibly hurt Shafter; when they arrived, they found her dead.
Calixto was indicted by a Sangamon County jury just days later, but he was never found and authorities believed that he had fled the country.
Now, two years later, Calixto has been found and arrested in Mexico.
John Milhiser, the Sangamon County State’s Attorney, said his office will work with federal authorities to coordinate extradition proceedings. He also thanked the U.S. Department of Justice Office of International Affairs, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Central and Southern Districts of Illinois for their assistance in this case.
This is a developing story.