Police said Tahje Akhalid Michael, 29, shot and killed Greg Najee Grimes outside a nightclub in downtown Sacramento in 2022.
Michael had been on the run since then.
Police credited Tuesday's arrest to a partnership with the TV show "America's Most Wanted."
After it aired, tips started pouring in, helping investigators develop Michael as their suspect.
Grimes was a former football star at Boise State University and worked at his high school as a football coach at the time he was killed.
Michael was being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center on a hold from California.