Cell records, a key eyewitness and a history of bad blood led authorities on Thursday to arrest a former University of Miami football player for the murder of Bryan Pata, a star Hurricanes defensive lineman who was gunned down in 2006 in what had been one of South Florida’s most infamous unsolved killings.

Miami-Dade homicide detectives arrested Rashaun Jones, 35, a former Canes defensive back, in Marion County on a charge of first-degree murder. He’ll be extradited to Miami-Dade County to await trial.

The arrest, 15 years after the homegrown football star was shot to death outside a Kendall apartment, was met with relief from family, fans, and current and former members of the University of Miami program. The suspect was equally as stunning: a teammate who publicly grieved alongside team members in the weeks after Pata’s murder, even kneeling alongside fellow players when a giant portrait of Pata was unfurled at the Orange Bowl after a game.

Jones, according to police and prosecutors, had long been a suspect in Pata’s murder, although he was not publicly named as one until ESPN published an in-depth story about him and the unsolved murder last year.

“For nearly 15 years, our homicide investigators have relentlessly searched for the murderer of Bryan Pata. They take great pride in their work ethics as they always represent their victims,” Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo Ramirez wrote on Twitter.

Pata was a 22-year-old senior and budding star when he was shot in the back of the head and killed outside his home at the Colony Apartments in Kendall on the evening of Nov. 7, 2006. Pata, a Miami Central High grad who was expected to be a high NFL draft pick, had just returned from practice.

Detectives investigated a host of people, including Pata’s ex-girlfriend, Jada Brody, and her twin brother, who was in Boston at the time. Jada Brody had been inside the apartment during the shooting.

But investigators learned that Jones, who had been involved with Pata’s girlfriend, had been feuding with Pata in the months before the killing. Pata, who was considerably larger than Jones, had bested him in a fight, authorities said.

Pata had also told his brother, Edwin Pata, that Jones had threatened to shoot him in the head, according to an arrest warrant released Thursday. Edwin Pata had urged his brother to report the incident to then-head Coach Larry Coker. Bryan Pata never did, prosecutors said.

After the shooting, homicide detectives spoke with Jones twice, and he insisted that he was home, on the 7300 block of Southwest 80th Street, and never left. But according to the arrest warrant, cell records showed that at the time of the shooting, his cellphone was away from the home — and the signal bounced off a tower not far from the Colony apartments.

Although there was no direct witness to the shooting, a neighbor named Paul Conner also identified Jones as the man who was seen walking away from the scene. Conner, now 77, heard the “pop” of the shot and described a man wearing a black T-shirt and dark-colored shorts he saw emerge from the apartment complex parking lot from the direction of the sound.

A street light illuminated the street, according to the warrant. “He had a clear and unobstructed view” of the man’s face, Miami-Dade Detective Juan Segovia, of the homicide bureau, wrote in the warrant.

Conner’s testimony helped police prepare a sketch of the murder suspect released not long after the shooting. He was re-interviewed last September and picked Jones out of a photo lineup, police said.

“The Pata family has waited a long time to see the individual they had believed involved in Brian’s death arrested and charged,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. “While the time needed to build sufficient evidence to ethically charge in a homicide can sometimes feel endless, families should know that the passion and determination of police and prosecutors to resolve unsolved cases does not diminish.”

Jones, 35, of Lake City, has insisted he had nothing to do with the killing. It was unclear Thursday if he had a defense lawyer.

“I know I ain’t had nothing to do with it. So why would it bother me?” Jones told ESPN last year. “What happened 12 years ago, happened 12 years ago. It’s got nothing to do with me. ... I didn’t do it.”

Detectives pored through Jones’ past and the arrest warrant pointed out examples of Jones’ past threats.

In one case, Jones used a gun to threaten a student named David Howell in a dorm room, after Howell kicked him out for “acting inappropriately” with a visiting woman, the warrant said. In another, a teammate named Kareem Brown told detectives that Jones told him he “always carries his .38-caliber firearm.”

Police did not reveal what caliber was used to kill Pata but said it was “consistent” with the type of gun Jones had been seen with in the past.

Jones’ behavior after the killing also raised suspicions.

He skipped a mandatory team meeting at the campus athletic center after Pata’s murder, according to the warrant. He also called a fellow student, Mike Sanders, and asked to borrow money. Jones, the warrant said, refused to say why he needed the money.

“I can’t tell you. I will tell you when I see you,” Jones said, according to the warrant.

In the warrant, police said Jones would not say why he skipped the mandatory team meeting. Jones also changed his cell number after the shooting.

News of the arrest brought back painful memories for Canes fans, former players and family members, who started a foundation in Bryan’s name after the killing

Edwin Pata, who is the UM assistant director of recruiting, changed his Twitter profile picture Thursday to a photo of Bryan Pata holding up his high-school diploma. He said he planned to spend the evening at the cemetery where Bryan is buried, along with his mother and siblings.

“Mixed emotions,” he told the Herald.

UM football coach Manny Diaz, speaking to reporters Thursday night after practice, said the Pata family is “thankful for the people who are responsible for securing the arrest.”

“Our thoughts are with the Pata family, because we knew how great Edwin is,” Diaz said. “We’ve gotten to know his family and we’ve got a lot of love for them.”