Zaakir McClendon, 20, is charged with murder, five counts of attempted murder and related offenses.
McClendon was arrested for an unrelated murder in July. It was after that arrest when, police say, they discovered McClendon matched DNA recovered from the Elizalde murder.
Detectives then obtained the suspect's phone records, which showed frequent contact around the time of the murder with at least two individuals already charged in the case, investigators said Friday.
Police went on to say they also discovered a possible motive for the gunfire in those messages.
The shooting happened on the afternoon of Sept. 27, 2022 just as a junior varsity football scrimmage ended between three schools: Roxborough High School, Northeast High School, and Boys Latin Charter School.
Elizalde was a freshman at Saul High School but played football for Roxborough.
According to police, multiple suspects waited for six minutes before jumping out of an SUV and firing more than 60 shots.
Elizalde, who police said was not the target, was shot and died at the hospital a short time later.