Rochester Hills slaying suspect charged with murder; extradition sought
A suspect in the slaying of a Rochester Hills man in his home has been charged with murder and is in the process of being extradited from Louisiana, according to a tweet from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
Carlos Jose Hernandez, 37, of Dearborn was arrested Saturday in Louisiana, and has been charged with felony murder and two counts of unlawful imprisonment, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in a press release Sunday.
“This was a gruesome attack on an elderly couple in their home,” McDonald said in the release. “I have authorized the highest charge which carries a mandatory life without parole sentence for this brutal crime. My office will work diligently to ensure that this individual is held accountable and that the public is safe from violentpredators.”
Unlawful Imprisonment is a felony punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment and/or a fine up to $20,000.
Hernandez is one of two men suspected of killing Hussein Murray, 72, of Rochester Hills on Friday. Murray’s 72-year-old wife, who has not been identified, was home during the invasion and was briefly hospitalized and released.
Hernandez was arrested without incident at about 4 p.m. Saturday in Shreveport, Louisiana, after Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies on Interstate 49 spotted a vehicle that matched the description of Hernandez’s vehicle.
Deputies made a traffic stop and arrested Hernandez for multiple armed robbery warrants out of Ohio and the Oakland County murder warrant. He is being held in the Caddo Correction Center.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said Hernandez is scheduled to appear in court in the next few days and it was not immediately known if he would waive extradition to Michigan.
The investigation is ongoing and information regarding the second suspect has not yet been released.
“This case is an extremely disturbing and tragic event for which we intend to hold the perpetrators fully accountable,” Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a press release Sunday.
“I am so proud of our whole team and how they worked around the clock to bring this case forward. I am also very proud of our partnership with the U.S. Marshal’s Service as well as the local sheriff’s office that was watching for our suspect vehicle. We continue to ask the public’s help for information on locating the second suspect.”
The death happened shortly before noon Friday in a home in the 3700 block of Newcastle, an upscale neighborhood.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Hernandez and a “thin Black man” posed as DTE employees and drove a white pickup truck with a DTE identifier on it.
In a clip shared on the Sheriff’s Office’s social media accounts, a large man wearing a reflective vest and medical face mask can be heard saying, “We’re DTE. We’re checking for gas leaks.”
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Murray’s wife told deputies the men had come to their home Thursday night, claiming there was a gas leak but were not admitted. She said on Friday they were allowed in the home and her husband accompanied them to the basement, ostensibly to look for the leak.
The Sheriff’s Office said Murray’s wife called 911. She had been tied up and her hands had been duct taped. She told deputies initially that she believed her husband may have been kidnapped. While checking the house, deputies found the husband’s body in the basement.
mjohnson@detroitnews.com
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