AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin man accused in two separate 2025 shootings has now been charged with murder after Austin Police Department detectives linked him through DNA and cellphone evidence with the deaths of two women, one in Bastrop County in 2018 and another in Travis County in 2024, according to a newly filed affidavit.
DNA links 2 murders, but no suspect found: Here’s what APD can do now
Luis Fernando Benitez Gonzalez, 26, has been charged with murder in the June 2024 killing of 35-year-old Alyssa Ann Rivera, whose body was found inside an abandoned home near East Metcalfe Road in southeast Austin.
KXAN reached out to Benitez Gonzalez’s attorney and will update this story once a response is provided.
According to the affidavit, Austin Police responded on June 21, 2024, after a caller reported a possible dead person at the vacant property. Investigators found Rivera’s body with apparent blunt-force injuries to her face and signs of strangulation. Officers also observed drag marks, blood evidence and handprints at the scene…