Woman arrested in Mexico on suspicion of 2015 killing of her husband in Victorville

A 40-year-old woman was taken into custody this month on suspicion of shooting her husand to death in 2015 in Victorville, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced Monday.

Leticia Smith had evaded arrest for nearly seven years after her husband, Antoine Smith, 35, was found dead of gunshot wounds in the couple’s Victorville home in May 2015. The couple’s two daughters also went missing during that time but were found safe in Mexico with their mother, officials said.

The investigation began after multiple people contacted the Sheriff’s Department on May 10, 2015, saying they had not heard from Antoine for several days.

“Friends and co-workers became increasingly concerned after they received text messages from Antoine’s cellphone number, which were not consistent with Antione’s messaging style,” the Sheriff’s Department wrote in a release.

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On May 11, a missing-person report was filed with the department, and a welfare check of the home in the 13000 block of Brynwood Street was performed the following day.

After Antoine’s body was discovered, investigators identified Leticia as a suspect and uncovered evidence that she had fled to Mexico with the two girls.

The department’s cold case homicide team took over the investigation last December, and Smith was found to be living in Rosarito, Mexico, officials said.

“Investigators, with the assistance of the Department of Justice, had Smith arrested on an extraditable warrant for Antoine’s murder,” the department said.

Smith was arrested in Mexico and taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on March 4. Smith is currently in sheriff’s custody at the West Valley Detention Center in lieu of $2-million bail.