Suspect in deadly 2006 shooting now in Sacramento custody after FBI extradition from Mexico

A Sacramento murder suspect who fled the country after a 2006 gun killing in the city’s North City Farms neighborhood is behind bars Thursday after federal agents extradited him from Mexico.

Jose Eduardo Rojo-Rivera, 37, faces a murder charge and a Friday arraignment in Sacramento Superior Court nearly two decades after the gunshot that killed Gerardo Javier Jimenez-Aguilar, 21, in the driveway of Jimenez’s St. Joseph’s Drive home on June 24, 2006.

Rivera remains held without bail Thursday in Sacramento County Main Jail.

Agents from the FBI’s Sacramento field office and Sacramento police announced the extradition Wednesday. Rivera, a Mexican national, had eluded authorities for 18 years.

Arrest warrants in July 2006 by Sacramento police, then by a Sacramento federal court judge, followed the deadly shooting, The Sacramento Bee reported at the time.

Rivera remained a fugitive until his August 2023 arrest by Mexican authorities on suspicion of firearms trafficking in Los Mochis, in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, said FBI Sacramento officials.

Rivera remained held in Sinaloa awaiting extradition back to the United States and a Sacramento court to face charges.

Darrell Smith

The Sacramento Bee

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Darrell Smith is a local reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He joined The Bee in 2006 and previously worked at newspapers in Palm Springs, Colorado Springs and Marysville. Smith was born and raised at Beale Air Force Base and lives in Elk Grove.