Police said the 35-year-old suspect was arrested in Arizona after investigators tracked him as he traveled toward the Mexican border.
BARBERTON, OH — A 35-year-old man has been charged with murder after a 26-year-old woman was found fatally stabbed inside a Barberton home, with police saying the suspect was later arrested in Arizona while traveling toward the Mexican border.
Marcos Antonio Huerta-Garcia was taken into custody Sept. 5 in Yuma County, Arizona, according to the Barberton Police Department. Police said Huerta-Garcia, who is from Zapotitlán Tablas in the Mexican state of Guerrero, had been living and working in the United States and was residing at the Wooster Road West home with the woman. He was booked into the Yuma County Jail and was awaiting extradition to Ohio. The murder charge is an allegation, and the case has not been adjudicated.
Barberton police and emergency medical crews responded at about 11:25 p.m. Sept. 4 to a home in the 1500 block of Wooster Road West. Authorities said officers had also been following up on a missing person report filed earlier that day and were attempting to locate the missing person when the investigation led them to the residence.
First responders found a 26-year-old woman inside the home with multiple stab wounds, according to police and the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office. She was pronounced dead at the scene early Sept. 5. Authorities have not publicly identified the woman while they work to confirm her identity and notify her family.
Police said officers speaking with other residents at the home uncovered evidence and information that prompted Barberton detectives and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to join the case. Authorities began investigating the death as a homicide and worked to identify and locate a person believed to be responsible.
The investigation soon expanded beyond Ohio. Barberton police said law enforcement agencies worked together and used automated license plate reader technology to locate Huerta-Garcia as he traveled west. Police said the Arizona Department of Public Safety stopped and arrested him near Interstate 8 in Yuma County, an area near the U.S.-Mexico border.
Officials have not publicly detailed what evidence led investigators to charge Huerta-Garcia with murder, and authorities have not announced a motive. Police also have not released additional information explaining the circumstances leading to the woman’s death or the events immediately before she was found.
The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office is involved in the investigation and is responsible for determining the official cause and manner of death. Initial reports from authorities described the case as a homicide investigation after the woman was found with stab wounds, but the medical examiner’s final findings had not been publicly released.
Huerta-Garcia remained listed as an inmate at the Yuma County Detention Center as authorities worked to return him to Ohio. Police have not announced when that transfer will occur or released details about his next court appearance. The woman’s identity also remained withheld pending positive identification and family notification.
Author note: Last updated September 6, 2026.