The Suspects
In my previous article, I mentioned how two of the suspects were caught. Now I will write about the other suspects who were caught.
Another 15-year-old was caught. His name was withheld because of his age. He was taken into custody on August 10. He lived in Morristown with his mother and her boyfriend. He lived in the Ivy Hill Park apartments at one time. Residents of the Ivy Hill complex thought that he was troublesome. He also went to Mount Vernon School with the other 15-year-old suspect.
Rodolfo Godinez, 24, is the cousin of the first 15-year-old suspect. He was arrested on August 18. He was hiding inside the Oxon Hill, MD. The police arrived at 1 a.m. to arrest him. He was caught because Detective Rasheen Peppers found him on myspace. The detective set up a myspace account and saw their pictures on the website. His brother's profile had clues. If you're in a gang, which they all were, would it be wise to put that type of information on the Internet? That wasn't very smart of them.
Alexander Alfaro, 16, is Rodolfo's half-brother. He as well as all of the other suspects lived in the Ivy Hill Park apartments. He also attended Mount Vernon School with the other 15-year-old suspects. He was caught on August 18 too. He was arrested within an hour after his brother was arrested. He was arrested in Woodbridge, VA. He had been hiding in a ground-floor apartment. Rodolfo and Alexander were planning to escape to El Salvador before they were arrested.
Melvin Jovel, 18, was arrested on August 19. He was hiding a few miles from the crime scene. He was arrested in Elizabeth, NJ. He's being held on $2 million bail. He was raised in Newark and attended Mount Vernon School, Vailsburg Middle School, and West Side High School. He was often seen hanging around the murder scene with Alfaro and one of the other juvenile defendants. According to his old classmates, other kids in school pushed him around.
The Investigation
At the start of the investigation, the police didn't seem to think the shootings were gang-related. It turns out that it's possible that the shootings may be gang-related after all. The suspects are all in a Latino street gang called MS-13. There's also a strong possibility that they sexually assaulted the girls. The police plan on continuing the investigation even though the suspects are caught. They want to make sure that there aren't more suspects involved.
Final Thoughts
I am glad that the police caught the six suspects right away. Hopefully if there are any more suspects, they will be caught fast too. If they are guilty, I hope they are properly punished for this crime. There's no way that they should get off that easily for what they have done.
