STATE POLICE MAKE ARREST WANTED FUGITIVE IN CONNECTION WITH TALBOT COUNTY HOMICIDE

Talbot County, MD: Maryland State Police homicide investigators arrested a wanted fugitive in connection with the 2021 murder of Marta Merina, 33, of Trappe, Maryland.

The accused is identified as Ibarra Juarez, 32, of no fixed address. Juarez is charged with first and second-degree murder along with other related criminal charges about the murder of Marta Merina on Christmas Eve in 2021 in Trappe, Maryland.

Shortly after 6:15 a.m. on December 24, 2021, police responded to the 2900 block of Howell Point Road in Trappe for an apparent shooting. Upon their arrival, police found Merina outside of her home, suffering from a gunshot wound. Following a thorough investigation by the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit and consultation with the Talbot County State's Attorney's Office, a felony arrest warrant was issued for Juarez.

Mexican authorities located Juarez for an unrelated crime in Oaxaca, Mexico, on March 24, 2022. The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs worked with Mexican prosecutors to request his provisional arrest in April 2022.

Extradition was granted on October 5, 2022, but it was deferred pending the completion of Ibarra Juarez's sentence in Mexico.

Ibarra Juarez was subsequently extradited to Maryland yesterday and processed at the Maryland State Police Easton Barracks for the murder of Marta Merina. Juarez is currently being held at the Talbot County Detention Center without bond.

Investigators from the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit led the investigation. Assistance was provided by troopers from the Easton Barrack, the Maryland State Police Criminal Intelligence Section, crime scene technicians from the Forensic Sciences Division, troopers from the Maryland State Apprehension Team, Talbot County Sheriff's Office, Talbot County State's Attorney's Office, the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, Salisbury City Police Department and the Fruitland Police Department.

Federal law enforcement assistance was provided by the United States Marshals Service Baltimore Field Office, the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, and the United States Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs, which worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure Ibarra Juarez's arrest and extradition.

Source: Maryland State Police Press Release