Final suspect in 14-year-old's murder now in custody

SAN JOSE, Calif.

Joe Chavarria, 31, was arrested Thursday in connection with a brutal beating that killed San Jose boy Heriberto Reyes on April 27, 2012 at Roosevelt Park in San Jose, police said.

Police said officers located Chavarria, who had an arrest warrant in connection with the homicide, at an apartment in the 200 block of East Dunne Avenue in Morgan Hill, where he had been hiding out.

He was taken to county jail where he is being held.

Seven men -- defendants Ruben Becerra, Scott Conway, James Conklin, Angel Lamas, Javier Lamas, Jacob Lynch and Clemente Salas, were arrested last year and charged with murder attempted murder in connection with the beating death and near-death of Heriberto's older brother Juan Reyes.

According to prosecutors, the seven defendants punched and kicked Heribert and his older brother in a basketball court at Roosevelt Park in a gang-related attack.

The 14-year-old, an eighth-grader at Bernal Intermediate School, was taken to the Regional Medical Center of San Jose, where he died.

His brother survived serious injuries suffered during the attack.

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