Determined to bring Schubert’s killer to justice, authorities launched an undercover operation in August 2024 to track Ayala in Talmo, Georgia. Surveillance teams collected discarded items, including multiple lottery scratch-off tickets and plastic bottles, which were submitted for forensic testing. DNA from one of Ayala’s discarded bottles was found to be an exact match to the unidentified DNA at the crime scene, prosecutors said.
Suffolk County Police arrested Ayala in Georgia on Thursday, Jan. 16, and he was extradited to Long Island. In court Friday, he was indicted on the following felony counts:
Murder in the first degree
Two counts of murder in the second degree