FBI Safe Streets Task Force Arrest

ATLANTA—Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Lamkin, FBI Atlanta, in conjunction with Chief of Police L. “Randy” Johnson, Lawrenceville Police Department, announces the following arrest at Austin, Texas:

William Alexander Zepeda, age 37, originally of El Salvador, was arrested yesterday evening, February 21, 2011, by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force at Austin, Texas during an alien smuggling sweep.

Zepeda is wanted in connection with the April 6, 1998, armed robbery of a restaurant in Lawrenceville, Georgia. After the robbery, the manager and an employee of the restaurant were both shot to death, execution-style, in the back of their heads. On April 7, 1998, an arrest warrant was issued for Zepeda by the Gwinnett County Superior Court, Lawrenceville, Georgia, and Zepeda was charged with murder and armed robbery. On April 20, 1998, a federal complaint was filed and an arrest warrant was issued in the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia, charging Zepeda with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Chief Randy Johnson, Lawrenceville Police Department, stated, “Thirteen years is a long time for two families to wait for the arrest of Zepeda. Hopefully this arrest will bring closure for these families who lost love ones in this terrible crime.”

Zepeda is currently being held at the Travis County Detention Center, Austin, Texas, where he will await extradition proceedings that will provide for his return back to Georgia.

It should be noted that the above are mere allegations and that all persons are to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.