It took seven years, but New Port Richey Police said they caught their man.
Detectives arrested 27-year-old Ramon Perez-Velez at a home in Spring Hill Friday afternoon and charged him with 2nd degree murder.
According to police, Perez-Velez was the highest ranking member of the area's Latin Kings gang, when he shot and killed rival gang member James Paulin in 2007. Police say it was retaliation against Paulin's gang, the Valentine Bloods, for beating up the child of a Latin Kings member.
Police say Perez-Velez shot Paulin in the back and then left his body under a picnic table at a home on Celeste Lane in New Port Richey.
Always a suspect, detectives working the case said they never had enough evidence to arrest Perez-Velez. That was until the case was reopened a year ago when several tips came in from as far away as New York City.
Police say they finally had the evidence they needed and with assistance from the State Attorney's Office and the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, took Perez-Velez into custody.
The investigation is ongoing and police say other arrests are imminent.