Angel Lizandro Sanches-Zenteno, 17, was arrested Monday in connection with the strangulation death of his 5-year-old cousin: Dallas Police Department

Angel Lizandro Sanches-Zenteno, 17, was arrested Monday in connection with the strangulation death of his 5-year-old cousin: Dallas Police Department

Police today arrested Angel Lizandro Sanches-Zenteno, 17, the cousin of Kathrine Alejandra Gonzalez. They say they believe Sanches-Zenteno strangled the child and left her in an abandoned Lake Highlands-area apartment.

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We reported yesterday that Dallas police were investigating the death of Kathrine Alejandra Gonzalez, a 5-year-old girl found Sunday in a vacant apartment unit at Sontera Palms, 9505 Royal Lane

Witnesses saw Sanches-Zenteno walking with the victim before she went missing, police say. Police say that residents of the apartment community went out of their way to help—first helping them search for the missing child and later allowing officers to use their homes and assisting the investigation in every way possible.

The medical examiner has initially ruled the cause of death to be strangulation, according to a police report. Sanchez-Zenteno is in custody and charged with capital murder, police report.