Tacoma fugitive returned to U.S. after decade on the run

TACOMA – A former Tacoma man wanted for investigation of second-degree murder has been returned to Washington state after more than a decade on the run.

The Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office said 32-year-old Jesus Richard Mederos was arrested last year in Cuernavaca, in the Mexican state of Morelos, to face charges in the shooting death of 18-year-old Robert Tapia in October 2006. He also faces a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Mexican authorities transferred Mederos to the custody of the FBI on Thursday and he was booked into the Pierce County Jail.

Charging documents say Mederos shot Tapia through the passenger window of a car because of a disagreement between Tapia and a friend of Mederos.

It was not immediately clear if Mederos had obtained a lawyer.