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Suspect arrested in 1990 killing of Miami Beach woman

Posted at 9:04 AM, Jan 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-19 09:04:18-05

MIAMI (AP) -- A suspect in the slaying of a Miami Beach woman more than two decades ago has been arrested.

Media outlets report 53-year-old Dale Ewers faces charges of murder, sexual battery, armed robbery and kidnapping in Mercedes Perez's death. He was arrested in Jamaica in October and extradited Wednesday to Florida.

Police say Ewers shot 34-year-old Perez to death inside her South Beach apartment in 1990 and raped her friend.

The case went unsolved for years until police say DNA evidence from the crime scene was tested in 2012, linking Ewers to Perez's death. At that time, Ewers was living in Jamaica after having been deported there following a 2008 arrest on unrelated charges in Massachusetts.

The lengthy extradition process held up his arrest.

It's unclear if Ewers has an attorney.