A breakthrough has been achieved in a decades-old cold case as a Florida man, accused of executing a couple in front of their toddler, is now in custody. This development brings some closure to a family that has been in anguish for over thirty years.
William Antonio Solis, aged 62, was apprehended by federal agents in Tampa on Wednesday. The arrest was announced via a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
“For more than 30 years, this Bronx double murder has haunted a family and the people of New York,” stated U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “That ends today.”
The victims, Luis Guerrero and his wife Danis Sime, were tragically executed in their Bronx apartment on July 21, 1993. This case has been a point of contention and grief for those connected to it.
Solis, who is also known by the aliases “La Vega” and “Vegano,” faces charges related to the intentional killings as part of a narcotics conspiracy involving the deaths of Guerrero and Sime, according to federal prosecutors.
Investigators allege that on that fateful day in 1993, Solis, along with two accomplices, planned to rob Guerrero, who was a narcotics supplier, at his Bronx residence.
Danis Sime and her husband Luis Guerrero were killed in an execution-style murder in their Bronx apartment in New York City on July 21, 1993. (U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York)
After Solis and the co-conspirators entered the residence, they allegedly bound Guerrero, stole his drugs and lured Sime into the apartment to restrain her as well, prosecutors said.
Solis then allegedly shot both Guerrero and Sime in an execution-style killing in front of their 3-year-old child, according to authorities.
William Solis was arrested in connection with the 1993 cold case murder of a married couple in their Bronx apartment in New York City. (U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York)
At the time of the alleged murders, the couple’s young son told police that a man had pointed a gun at his mother, covered her head with a pillowcase and “took her away,” according to the New York Daily News.
Neighbors reportedly found the child crying for his parents outside the apartment complex.
“He was screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’” neighbor Chris Anton previously told the outlet. “He was scared.”
“I tried to ask [the boy] some questions and all he would say was, ‘El Otro took his mother and put a cover over her head,” Anton reportedly added. “I bought him pizza, ice cream – anything he wanted.”
At the time of the alleged murders, police were reportedly investigating Guerrero’s possible drug connection, with neighbors telling the New York Daily News the couple were “nice, quiet people” and “never bothered anyone.”
Authorities did not release additional details regarding how investigators were led to Solis.
If convicted, Solis faces the possibility of the death penalty or life in prison, according to the DOJ.
“As alleged, William Solis spent decades hiding in plain sight more than a thousand miles from where he viciously murdered the Guerreros in front of their young child,” HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso said.
“This arrest is the result of years of meticulous investigative work by dedicated special agents and task force officers who refused to let this case go cold,” Alfonso added.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
