DNA evidence helped detectives with the Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit identify a suspect they believed stabbed to death a 26-year-old man 16 years ago during an argument at a bar.

Police officials said DNA evidence collected in the July 31, 2009, murder investigation into the fatal stabbing of Christopher Perez at a bar in the 500 block of East 34th Street was flagged in a federal database that linked it to Javier Pando, 52, who investigators learned died in Mexico prior to the conclusion of the case, police announced in a news release Thursday.

"The Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit remains committed to investigating all homicides that occur in Lubbock County and are hopeful the solving of this murder will bring Perez’s family some peace in the years to come," reads a

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