The Kaufman County Sheriff is praising the work of his deputies and state and federal partners for the capture of fugitive Trevor McEuen.
“This is old-fashioned law enforcement – boots on the ground, doing intel,” said Sheriff Bryan Beavers.
“The best thing about this is we’ve got him in custody and the Martinez family will get justice and that’s what we need."
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WATCH HERECharged with capital murder for shooting his neighbor, Aaron Martinez, near Forney in 2023, McEuen had been on the run since May 5 after cutting off his ankle monitor and fleeing the day he was set to stand trial.
Beavers said he always believed McEuen was in the area. Those suspicions proved right when law enforcement surrounded his grandmother’s home in Van Zandt County early Monday morning.
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SIGN UP The sheriff said it took five hours to bring McEuen out from underneath the house.
“We put boots on the ground inside the house and that’s when we found a hole cut in the floor,” said Beavers. “He got underneath the house and we tried talking to him and he wouldn’t respond. We tear-gassed him and he finally came out.”
“The fact that this has been almost a month in the works is incredibly significant in that it means that they have really worked very hard with other agencies," said criminologist Alex Del Carmen.
Del Carmen said searches like this one are 24/7. They often involve operation centers that track tips and intelligence like a fugitive’s digital footprint
They include public PR campaigns.
“When these cases are highly publicized, as it is the case here, law enforcement wants to send a clear message to the public, especially to those individuals that are planning an escape or planning to, you know, to evade authorities. And that is no matter how many days pass, no matter where you try to hide, no matter how smart you may be, we will find you. We will apprehend you and we will prosecute you," he said.
Kaufman County deputies are now focused on who may have helped McEuen during his month on the run. So far, no charges have been filed against McEuen’s 90-year-old grandmother or anyone else.
“Somebody’s been helping him,” Beavers said. “We’re going to follow the evidence. If the evidence leads us there, we’re going to put somebody in jail.”
Beavers said McEuen remains in isolation at the Kaufman County Jail. With the bond revoked, he will stay behind bars until the murder trial.
McEuen’s attorney told NBC 5 the shooting of Aaron Martinez was self-defense and they are looking forward to a jury hearing the case in August.
