Authorities at the border arrest man accused of killing his ex’s 12-year-old son, sheriff says

Authorities at the U.S.-Mexico border have apprehended the man accused by Harris County deputies of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend’s 12-year-old son in the middle of the night.

Terry Bryan Rivera, 27, had been on the run for a week following the shooting death of Carlos Fernandez inside his family’s Cloverleaf-area apartment on March 4.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed Rivera’s arrest on Monday evening.

“Outstanding work by all. May 12-year-old Carlos Fernandez rest in peace,” Gonzalez tweeted hours after Carlos was laid to rest.

Gonzalez further stated that Rivera was detained at the Brownsville point of entry and was being held in Cameron County.

The news of the arrest came after Rivera’s mother, 51-year-old Alva Cornejo, appeared before a judge following her arrest on a charge of hindering apprehension or prosecution.

Appearing in a T-shirt and jeans, Cornejo faced a Harris County judge for the first time early Monday morning. She spoke only a few words, all in Spanish. It was disclosed that she is not a U.S. citizen and hails from El Salvador, with an ICE immigration hold currently in place.

Rivera faces a charge of capital murder in Carlos’ shooting death. He is accused of entering the family’s Cloverleaf apartment through an open window before opening fire.

Carlos’ mother, Ashley Rostro, Rivera’s ex-girlfriend, recounted how Carlos tried to shield her and his younger siblings when he was shot four times.

Rostro had pleaded with authorities to protect her from her abusive ex, but she feels that didn’t happen. She claims Rivera killed her son with a gun he stole from her home when he broke in and threatened her just days prior.

New details emerged in court, revealing that Cornejo met with her son hours after the boy’s murder. She reportedly urged her son to surrender, but he fled from a car and hasn’t been heard from since. However, investigators found conflicting evidence on her cellphone during the investigation.

Cornejo’s bond was set at $25,000 by the judge.

In 2014, Rivera was charged with strangling a female family member but pleaded to a lesser offense. He was also charged with shooting a gun out of a moving vehicle in 2015 and arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2023.