Walter F. Bustos-Solis, the man extradited from Mexico in 2025 for a fatal stabbing in the City of Peekskill in 2024, entered a guilty plea at the Westchester County Court on Monday, Jan. 5.
On June 10, 2024, at 3:40 a.m., Peekskill police officers responded to reports of an altercation on the 900 block of Main Street. Officers arrived and discovered a male victim, later identified as Carlos Rodriguez, 33, who had sustained severe lacerations to the lower part of his body.
Officers provided immediate medical attention to Rodriguez, who was then transported to the Westchester Medical Center by EMS. Rodrigez died on June 16 as a result of the injuries he sustained during the altercation.
Based on interviews with eyewitnesses and surveillance footage, Peekskill police detectives were able to identify Bustos-Solis as a suspect in the case and were actively attempting to locate him.
It wasn’t until over a year later, June 12, 2025, that Bustos-Solis was apprehended by federal authorities in Puebla City, Mexico. He was extradited to the United States and brought into the custody of the Peekskill police, as well as the FBI.
Upon his arrival he was arraigned on state charges of murder in the second degree, manslaughter in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.
Lohud reported that Bustos-Solis was charged with second-degree murder but was allowed to plead to manslaughter instead. Had he been convicted of murder, he would have faced up to 25 years to life in prison. For manslaughter, he faces a sentencing charge between five to 25 years.
In a social media post, the City of Peekskill Police Department commented on the guilty plea: “This is another fine example of how hard we work to keep our community safe. We thank everyone for their hard work and diligence which resulted in a guilty plea.”
Bustos-Solis is slated to be sentenced on Feb. 19 by Judge James McCarty.
Mexican Facebook account led police to Puebla City
An unsealed complaint filed Dec. 2, 2024, from the FBI detailed how Bustos-Solis became a suspect and how a Facebook account believed to be created by Bustos-Solis helped lead police to Puebla City.
On Sept. 8, 2024, a Facebook account was created, which an acquaintance of Bustos-Solis told law enforcement belonged to Bustos-Solis. The acquaintance said that Bustos-Solis spoke to them through the account.
Officers determined that the IP address used at the time the Facebook account was created originated in the vicinity of Puebla City, Mexico. Review of the Facebook account’s friends’ list found several of Bustos-Solis’s family members were friends with the account.
The FBI determined that Bustos-Solis left New York State and traveled to Mexico to evade prosecution.
Prior to her passing, Bustos-Solis’s ex-wife was interviewed by law enforcement officers on June 17, 2024. During the interview, she said, in substance and in part, that she was aware that Bustos-Solis had gotten into legal trouble and was “on the run,” the complaint stated.
She also claimed that she had not spoken to him in over a year. However, police say they reviewed security footage from a hotel in Waterbury, Connecticut, which appeared to show Bustos-Solis and his ex-wife in a car together on June 12, about five days before she was interviewed. She was subsequently arrested on July 11 and charged with hindering prosecution. Since that time, she has passed away, court documents said.
