Who is Luis Gonzalez? Austin man linked to unsolved murders of 2 women as loved ones speak out, ‘Emotions were high’

A man has been charged with murder by authorities in after they used DNA to link him to two separate murder cases. An affidavit obtained by CBS Austin and KXAN revealed that Luis Fernando Benitez Gonzalez, 26, was arrested in Dallas on April 27 and later charged with first-degree murder in connection with the June 2024 death of Alyssa Ann Rivera. However, while , he confessed to the April 2018 killing of Alba Jenisse Aviles Marti.

Gonzalez was taken into custody by investigators with the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force after they located him at an apartment complex in Dallas.

According to investigators, Rivera, 34, may have been forcibly dragged into the residence. She may have tried to escape. Her face had apparent blunt-force injuries and signs of strangulation, per the affidavit.

Drag marks, blood evidence and handprints were found at the scene.

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A later showed Rivera walking with a man southbound on Metcalfe Road at approximately 1:46 am on June 19, about two days before her body was found. Her autopsy showed that she died from trauma to the head and blunt-force injuries. Her manner of death was listed as homicide.

Gonzalez was presented with DNA evidence during sentencing that linked Rivera’s death to that of Marti, who was last seen on April 14, 2018, leaving Club Caribe, a bar on Felter Lane in south Austin, with an unidentified man. Marti’s body was found in her car on an abandoned dirt road driveway on Old San Antonio Road in Dale, located about 30 miles outside Austin.

Marti’s cause of death was strangulation, and had been sexually assaulted, according to an autopsy.

In fact, in 2024, investigators had linked the two cases when the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) showed that the same DNA was allegedly collected at both crime scenes.

In 2025, a breakthrough finally came when Austin police were investigating two aggravated assault shootings involving women in November and December that year. The victims went on to identify the same suspect using a cellphone photo.

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Investigators later found that the phone belonged to Gonzalez. Ballistics evidence that was previously submitted to the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network also showed a firearm connection. Data from his phone revealed that he had been about 700 meters from where Marti’s car was found in Dale in 2018.

Rivera’s family opened up about Gonzalez’s arrest. “It was just like getting the call when we lost her, when they called to tell us that she was gone. The emotions were high,” stepmother Wendy Rivera told CBS Austin.

Wendy said that Rivera was someone who “lit up the room” when she walked in. “If you met Alyssa once, you would never forget her. Her smile was infectious,” she said.

“We waited two long years for this, and we had given up hope. So, we’re very happy that he’s now in custody,” she added. “We finally have answers we didn’t have before.”

Gonzalez then confessed to killing Marti in 2018 after an argument over money. According to investigators, he strangled Marti with a seatbelt and then left her in the car.

Gonzalez claimed that both the murders were self-defense. However, investigators wrote that the evidence showed a “pattern of violent offenses.”

Besides the first-degree murder charge, Gonzalez is also facing two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon tied to the 2025 shootings. It remains unclear if he will face murder charges in connection with Marti’s death.

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