HARTFORD, CT - Police have found and arrested the suspect wanted in a drive-by shooting that left a 20-year-old mother and her four-month-old baby dead.
According to NBC Connecticut, officers were called to Hartford Hospital on Tuesday, November 19th, around 2:45 p.m. for a report of a vehicle arriving with multiple gunshot victims; in total, three people had been shot. Police said that 20-year-old Jessiah Mercado and her four-month-old son, Messiah Diaz, both of Springfield, Massachusetts, were pronounced dead at the hospital.
A man in his 20s was also injured in the shooting. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Investigators said that all three individuals were shot while in a vehicle on New Britain Avenue after another vehicle pulled up and opened fire. After the shooting, police had identified 23-year-old Lance Morales as the suspect.
Boston 25 News reported that Morales is from Waterbury, Connecticut. U.S. Marshals said they learned he had fled to Puerto Rico. A few days later, on Saturday, November 23rd, he was found by the U.S. Marshal Violent Fugitive Task Force at a home in Fajardo in Puerto Rico.
He was taken into custody without further incident. He has been charged as a fugitive from justice and is being held on a $3 million bond while awaiting extradition to back to Connecticut. Once back in Connecticut, he is expected to be charged with murder with special circumstances, murder, assault, criminal attempt to commit assault, and criminal possession of a firearm.
According to reports, police said Morales, who goes by "Macho," left the crime scene in a white Infiniti Q-70 with a Massachusetts license plate "3NEB35," but that he may have had access to other vehicles. It was not immediately clear how he traveled to Puerto Rico. Investigators said they believe Morales was involved in a dispute over a vehicle, which led to the shooting.
In a statement, Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said, "It's a horrible tragedy and as a dad, I can't stop thinking about that baby who lost their life. It's just heartbreaking. It's devastating. It should never happen." Acting U.S. Marshal for the District of Connecticut Lawrence Bobnick said in a statement, "Since the commission of this senseless and heinous act of violence, investigators from the Hartford Police Department and the U.S. Marshal Service Violent Fugitive Task Forces in Connecticut and Puerto Rico have tirelessly worked around the clock to bring the suspect to justice."
He added, "This arrest is a testament to the close collaboration between the U.S. Marshals Service and our valued law enforcement partners and it demonstrates the reach these partnerships bring to the pursuit of justice."
According to NBC Connecticut, officers were called to Hartford Hospital on Tuesday, November 19th, around 2:45 p.m. for a report of a vehicle arriving with multiple gunshot victims; in total, three people had been shot. Police said that 20-year-old Jessiah Mercado and her four-month-old son, Messiah Diaz, both of Springfield, Massachusetts, were pronounced dead at the hospital.
A man in his 20s was also injured in the shooting. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Investigators said that all three individuals were shot while in a vehicle on New Britain Avenue after another vehicle pulled up and opened fire. After the shooting, police had identified 23-year-old Lance Morales as the suspect.
Boston 25 News reported that Morales is from Waterbury, Connecticut. U.S. Marshals said they learned he had fled to Puerto Rico. A few days later, on Saturday, November 23rd, he was found by the U.S. Marshal Violent Fugitive Task Force at a home in Fajardo in Puerto Rico.
He was taken into custody without further incident. He has been charged as a fugitive from justice and is being held on a $3 million bond while awaiting extradition to back to Connecticut. Once back in Connecticut, he is expected to be charged with murder with special circumstances, murder, assault, criminal attempt to commit assault, and criminal possession of a firearm.
According to reports, police said Morales, who goes by "Macho," left the crime scene in a white Infiniti Q-70 with a Massachusetts license plate "3NEB35," but that he may have had access to other vehicles. It was not immediately clear how he traveled to Puerto Rico. Investigators said they believe Morales was involved in a dispute over a vehicle, which led to the shooting.
In a statement, Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said, "It's a horrible tragedy and as a dad, I can't stop thinking about that baby who lost their life. It's just heartbreaking. It's devastating. It should never happen." Acting U.S. Marshal for the District of Connecticut Lawrence Bobnick said in a statement, "Since the commission of this senseless and heinous act of violence, investigators from the Hartford Police Department and the U.S. Marshal Service Violent Fugitive Task Forces in Connecticut and Puerto Rico have tirelessly worked around the clock to bring the suspect to justice."
He added, "This arrest is a testament to the close collaboration between the U.S. Marshals Service and our valued law enforcement partners and it demonstrates the reach these partnerships bring to the pursuit of justice."
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