TRAPPE, Md. — Maryland State Police have arrested a fugitive wanted in connection with the 2021 murder of Marta Merina, a 33-year-old woman from Trappe, Maryland.
The accused, identified as Ibarra Juarez, 32, was taken into custody following his extradition from Mexico. Juarez faces charges of first and second-degree murder, among other related offenses, for the shooting death of Merina on December 24, 2021.
On the morning of the incident, police responded to the 2900 block of Howell Point Road in Trappe at approximately 6:15 a.m., where Merina was discovered outside her home with a gunshot wound. Despite efforts, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
After a detailed investigation by the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit and the Talbot County State’s Attorney’s Office, a felony arrest warrant was issued for Juarez. Authorities later located him in Oaxaca, Mexico, where he had been apprehended by Mexican authorities for an unrelated crime in March 2022.
In April 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs formally requested his provisional arrest. Juarez’s extradition was granted on October 5, 2022, but deferred until he completed his sentence in Mexico. Juarez was subsequently brought to Maryland on October 22, 2024, and processed at the Maryland State Police Easton Barrack. He is currently being held without bond at the Talbot County Detention Center.
The investigation was led by the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit with support from multiple state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Talbot County Sheriff’s Office and Salisbury City Police Department. Federal support was provided by the United States Marshals Service and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, which coordinated efforts with Mexican prosecutors to secure Juarez’s arrest and extradition.
