BREA : Suspect Arrested in October Slaying

A La Mirada man wanted in connection with the killing of a man whose body was dumped alongside Carbon Canyon Road last month was in custody Friday, police said.

Homicide detectives, acting on a tip, arrested Gustavo Alvis, 28, without incident Thursday at an auto repair shop in Whittier, Detective Grant Gulickson said.

Investigators were still looking for a second suspect in connection with the killing.

Alvis is a suspect in the death of Torrance resident Theodore Stathis, 36, who had been shot in the head. His body had been left alongside Carbon Canyon Road, near Olinda Drive, in a rural part of Brea on Oct. 15, police said.

A witness followed the car from which Stathis was dumped for about half an hour, police said, until losing sight of it in the Chino area. The vehicle, reported stolen from Buena Park, was later was found in that area, police said.

Alvis and Stathis had socialized and worked together at auto body shops for several years, Gulickson said. The detective declined to discuss a possible motive for the murder.

A third man, Alfonso Martinez Perez, 24, of Norwalk was taken into custody Oct. 23 in connection with the slaying, but prosecutors lacked enough information to pursue charges against him, Gulickson said.

Alvis was held at Orange County Jail in Santa Ana in lieu of $258,000 bail.