Raleigh, North Carolina – The Raleigh Police Department has announced the arrest of a suspect in connection to the December 12, 1998 murder of 36-year-old Bernard Walker.

According to RPD, officers responded to a report of a deceased person in the 600 block of Gaston Street just before 8 a.m. on December 12, 1998. Police say officers found 36-year-old Bernard Walker suffering from stab wounds.

The victim succumbed to his injuries. According to RPD, the City-County Bureau of Identification developed a palm print database in 2007 and began scanning prints into it. In January 2008, a match was allegedly made to a palm print recovered from the crime scene.

RPD alleges that the print belonged to 45-year-old Eduardo Corona Gonzalez who had been deported on February 12, 2002. Authorities obtained an arrest warrant for Gonzalez on January 3, 2008.

RPD says it was notified that Gonzalez had been detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Arizona on November 20, 2024. On December 19, 2024, Gonzalez was transferred to the Raleigh Police Department and processed at the Wake County Detention Center on a charge of Murder.