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A 25-year-old man who was on the lam for nearly four years has been transported from Mexico and taken into custody at the Santa Rita Jail in connection with the shooting death of Livermore High School student Emanuel Moseby, city police confirmed on Tuesday.
The Livermore Police Department identified Jorge Luis Tellez, then 21 years old from Livermore, as their prime suspect in the killing of 16-year-old Moseby outside Taco Bell on East Stanley Boulevard in July 2019, but Tellez allegedly fled that night and remained at-large for years.
Police revealed on Tuesday that Tellez was arrested in Mexico last fall on a murder warrant associated with Moseby’s death and jailed until the extradition process played out. The U.S. Marshals Service delivered Tellez into Livermore police custody last Friday.
“It has been a long process,” the victim’s father, Earl Moseby Jr., said in a statement released by police. “Thank you to the Livermore Police Department for never giving up and for bringing us into the next chapter of closure.”
“I want to thank our detectives for their tireless work on this case and for bringing the suspect to justice,” Livermore Police Chief Jeramy Young added. “The victim was a Livermore High School student and beloved member of the school’s junior varsity football team. Our detectives never stopped searching for the suspect. We hope this news gives the victim’s loved ones and the Livermore community some relief that the first step in the criminal justice system has begun.”
Police alleged at the time that Tellez shot Moseby in the abdomen after an argument between the two escalated into Tellez pulling out a gun and firing it at around 9:25 p.m. July 8, 2019. Moseby died from his injuries at the hospital early the next morning.
Known by the nickname “Ace”, Moseby was “loved by everyone around him”, Livermore High football coaches said in a Facebook post after his death.
“Emanuel is remembered as being a team player who loved his family, playing football, his teammates and his friends,” they said. “More importantly, Emanuel was loved by everyone around him including all of the coaches on our staff, his teammates, family and friends.”
Police reported in 2019 that Moseby and Tellez were acquainted but it was unclear what their argument was about that fateful night in the Peppertree Plaza Shopping Center.
Officers, who soon obtained an arrest warrant for Tellez, were reportedly unable to locate the young man in the hours and days after the shooting. Detectives later determined Tellez fled to Mexico in the summer of 2019 and likely hid out there ever since, police said on Tuesday.
Mexican authorities ultimately located and arrested Tellez on the Livermore murder warrant last October, police said. He was extradited back to California last Friday and subsequently booked into Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on suspicion of multiple charges, including murder. Tellez is being held without bail.
The case has been turned over to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution, according to police. It is unclear when Tellez’s first court appearance locally will be or whether he is represented by an attorney yet.
