Current:Home > Invest3 New Jersey men to stand trial in airport garage shooting that killed 1 Philadelphia officer-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
3 New Jersey men to stand trial in airport garage shooting that killed 1 Philadelphia officer
View Date:2024-12-24 09:57:11
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A judge has ordered three New Jersey men to stand trial on most charges in an airport parking garage shooting in October that killed one Philadelphia police officer and wounded another.
Municipal Court Judge David Shuter ruled last week that Yobranny Martinez-Fernandez, 18, of Camden, New Jersey, must stand trial on charges of murder and attempted murder and related offenses, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Prosecutors have alleged that he fired the shots that killed the officer.
Alexander Batista-Polanco, 21, of Camden and Hendrick Peña-Fernandez, 21, of Pennsauken, New Jersey, face trial on charges including second-degree murder of a law enforcement officer. An attempted murder charge in the shooting of the other officer was dropped against both men. Robbery charges against all three were also dropped.
Prosecutors cited video footage, social media posts, and cell phone records as evidence that the trio stole a vehicle and used it days later to travel to the airport garage, where the two officers foiled another car theft.
Defense attorneys argued that none of the hours’ worth of evidence presented showed that their clients were at the airport at the time. Robert Gamburg, Peña-Fernandez’s attorney, said there was “absolutely nothing that carries the commonwealth’s burden.” Defense attorneys declined comment after the hearing, the newspaper reported.
Officers Richard Mendez and Raul Ortiz were about to begin their shift at around 11 p.m. on Oct. 12 when they heard breaking glass and saw several people breaking into a car in the parking lot at Philadelphia International Airport, police said. A confrontation ensued, and the two officers and one of the suspects were shot.
Mendez, 50, who had been on the force for more than two decades, was shot four times and pronounced dead at a hospital. His handcuffs were placed on Martinez Fernandez at the time of the suspect’s arrest, a symbolic practice used when officers are killed. Ortiz, a 20-year veteran of the force, was shot once in the arm and was treated at a hospital.
The suspects fled in an SUV reported stolen a week earlier that was later seen at a hospital Thursday dropping off 18-year-old Jesus Herman Madera Duran, who had been shot in the chest, abdomen and left arm. He was later pronounced dead. Authorities have said they believe Duran was shot by the same person who shot the two officers.
Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said earlier that police were pursuing others who aided the suspects or tried to obstruct the investigation. He cited the burning of the vehicle in a parking lot in Cranbury, New Jersey, people who rented hotel rooms but weren’t the ones staying there, and “people who knew where people were and didn’t tell us.”
veryGood! (1939)
Related
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Mixed Use
- Change of venue denied for Michigan school shooter’s father
- 'Rust' trial for armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed begins: Everything you need to know
- The combination of AEC tokens and Artificial Intelligence is a core driver in creating the Alpha Artificial Intelligence AI4.0 investment system
- A list of mass killings in the United States this year
- Maryland lawmakers look to extend property tax assessment deadlines after mailing glitch
- A former funeral home owner has been arrested after a corpse lay in a hearse for 2 years
- We Found the Gold Wine Glasses That Love Is Blind Fans Can’t Stop Talking About
- Panel advises Illinois commemorate its role in helping slaves escape the South
- Outage map shows where AT&T service was down for cellphone users across U.S.
Ranking
- Up to 20 human skulls found in man's discarded bags, home in New Mexico
- South Carolina bans inmates from in-person interviews. A lawsuit wants to change that
- The Excerpt podcast: The NIMBY war against green energy
- Biden calls Alabama IVF ruling outrageous and unacceptable
- Wildfires burn from coast-to-coast; red flag warnings issued for Northeast
- Amy Schumer Calls Out Critics Who Are “Mad” She’s Not Thinner and Prettier
- The Leap from Quantitative Trading to Artificial Intelligence
- Wendy Williams diagnosed with same form of dementia as Bruce Willis
Recommendation
-
Eminem, Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, N.W.A. and Janet Jackson get Songwriters Hall of Fame nods
-
More MLB jersey controversy: Players frustrated with uniform's see-through pants
-
Collapse of illegal open pit gold mine in Venezuelan jungle leaves multiple people dead
-
Pennsylvania seeks legal costs from county that let outsiders access voting machines to help Trump
-
Shocked South Carolina woman walks into bathroom only to find python behind toilet
-
Integration of AEC Tokens with Education
-
Outage map shows where AT&T service was down for cellphone users across U.S.
-
Handwritten lyrics of Eagles' classic Hotel California the subject of a criminal trial that's about to start