A suspected gang member was arrested in Cobb County on Wednesday after he was accused of killing a man in a Gwinnett County parking lot more than two weeks ago, officials said.
Multiple law enforcement agencies worked together to locate the suspect, who was identified by the Gwinnett sheriff’s office as 27-year-old Alexis Coria of Lawrenceville. Coria, who was called a member of the Surenos gang by the sheriff’s office, is charged with malice murder, felony murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
He is accused of killing 30-year-old Kevin Valdez, of Duluth, in the early morning hours of May 19, Gwinnett police said.
Around 3:15 a.m., Gwinnett officers responded to reports of a shooting at the Indian Trail Court Plaza, a strip mall on Indian Trail Lilburn Road. Investigators said they believed the shooting began nearby and ended in the parking lot. Officers found Valdez dead inside a car parked at the strip mall, police said.
After investigators named Coria as a suspect, he was spotted at a home in Dunwoody on Monday, the sheriff’s office said. Authorities then placed Coria under surveillance and followed him when he left the home as a passenger in a Honda Accord.
The vehicle was pulled over in Acworth on Wednesday and Coria was taken into custody with the help of Acworth police, officials said. He was booked into the Gwinnett jail, where he remains without bond.
