ICE Dallas arrests Salvadoran gang member wanted for capital murder

DALLAS – Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested a Salvadoran man Thursday night in Arlington, Texas, who was wanted for capital murder. 

Jonathan Alexander Gonzalez-Rosales, 25, is in the U.S. illegally and an active member of the 18th Street Gang, a transnational criminal organization. The Texas Office of the Attorney General assisted members of the ERO Dallas Fugitive Operations Team with the arrest.

According to court documents, Gonzalez-Rosales was wanted for the murder of Franklin Alexander Mercado, 17. Mercado’s body was discovered Jan. 22, 2020, in the 300 block of N. Prairie Creek Road in Dallas with multiple stab wounds. A Dallas County magistrate judge issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez-Rosales April 1, 2020, for capital murder.

ERO officers previously encountered Gonzalez-Rosales Dec. 10, 2017, at a magistrate court in San Antonio, Texas, and lodged an immigration detainer. The following day, ERO San Antonio issued Gonzalez-Rosales a Notice to Appear, and on Feb. 7, 2018, an immigration judge grant him bond. He was released from ICE custody Feb. 22, 2018, after posting bond.

Gonzalez-Rosales did not appear for his July 16, 2018, immigration court hearing, and an immigration judge in San Antonio ordered him removed in absentia to El Salvador. He remained an immigration fugitive until his most recent arrest by ERO.

ERO Dallas officers arrested Gonzalez-Rosales April 2, 2020, in Arlington, Texas, and transported him to the Bedford City Jail in Bedford, Texas. 

On April 3, 2020, ERO Dallas processed Gonzalez-Rosales, who will remain in ICE custody until he is transferred to the Dallas County Jail to face the pending capital murder charges.