The Department of Justice announced this afternoon the filing of 14 criminal charges in the framework of the investigation into the murder of boxer Héctor “Macho” Camacho.
Among the charges are those of conspiracy and murder in the first degree against five of those suspected of murdering Camacho and his friend Adrián Alberto “Yamil” Mojica Moreno in November 2012 in Bayamón.
This afternoon, Judge Milagros Muñiz Mas determined cause for the arrest of five individuals who would have participated in the murder of Camacho and Mojica Moreno.
The determination of the magistrate, who set millionaire bail for the accused, occurred around 1:00 in the afternoon after a hearing that lasted about an hour and a half.
“I have the pain because it will not go away, but I am grateful for it,” said María Matías, Macho Camacho’s mother, thanking that “justice has been done” after the filing of charges was announced.
“They promised me and they got me justice. That’s what I wanted the most. I waited ten years,” said Matías, who recalled that he spent a decade “from barracks to barracks” for her son. “Looking for justice for my son. And finally, God gave me Justice,” she added.
“Now I can be calm,” said the visibly moved woman.
“Cases are filed when they are ready,” Justice Secretary Domingo Emanuelli said, explaining how long the investigation and filing of charges took. And he assured that the fact that the daily work of the investigators during the decade that has passed since the double crime was committed does not mean that they have given up “in doing justice to the victims.”
During the night and early morning of today, the “Knock-out” operation was carried out through which one of the suspects was arrested, said Police Commissioner Antonio López Figueroa.
The chief prosecutor, Jessica Correa, said she was very satisfied with the filing of charges. “The death of two human beings is unfortunate for others, but we know that this case shook the country because as a result of these events a glory of Puerto Rican boxing dies,” she said.
Meanwhile, the prosecutor Janet Parra was in charge of filing the charges. “The Puerto Rico Police did not fail in their attempt to clarify this case,” Parra said, and she thanked the members of the Uniformed Police who accompanied her in the process “for having been there.” But she acknowledged that they are still working to resolve “a case that has been unsolved for a long time.”
The defendants arrived at the Bayamón Court around 10:00 in the morning and were interviewed by personnel from the Pre-Trial Services Program, a prerequisite for entering a room where the accusations were filed.
Among the alleged perpetrators are Wilfredo Rodríguez Rodríguez, known as “Fredo el alto”, Jesús “Chú” Naranjo Adorno, Joshua “Georgie” Méndez Romero, who are serving sentences in a federal prison in the United States, were transferred yesterday from Orlando to Puerto Rico, on separate flights and under heavy security, to face the accusations.
Another of the alleged suspects, Luis G. “Gaby el quemao” Figueroa Rivera, is serving a sentence in the Las Cucharas prison in Ponce and the fifth on the list of alleged perpetrators of the crime is Juan L. “Caco” Figueroa Rivera, who was arrested in the San Fernando de Bayamón urbanization this morning.
Two other of the suspected individuals were killed in separate events linked to drug trafficking. One of them, Sebastián, was the twin brother of Méndez Romero and the other murdered was identified as Alberto “Bizco” Rivera. The twins were called “Los Guabi”.
Sebastián was murdered in June 2013, along with a woman inside the restaurant in Bayamón. The “Bizco” was murdered in a residential in the same town but in 2015.
Naranjo Adorno and Méndez Romero were arrested shortly after the events that occurred on November 22, 2012 on PR-167 in Bayamón. However, no charges were filed when a person who was to be a witness left the Island and moved to Maryland.
The case, which is supposed to be clarified by the police from the beginning, apparently now has a new witness. Agent Simón Rosa, from the Major Crimes Division, has been in charge of continuing the investigation.
The famous boxer Camacho was with Yamil in a Mustang when they were shot. Camacho was shot in the head and died two days later, on November 24, 2012.
The investigation, to date, has always maintained that Yamil was the real target of the assassins. The individuals, as part of the plan to kill him, were tasked with stealing several kilos of cocaine, which Yamil was allegedly carrying in the Mustang. Camacho, apparently, only accompanied him at the time of the crime.
The investigation of the case was in the hands of the Division of Major Crimes of the Police and the Division of Organized Crime and Drugs of the Department of Justice.
The prosecutors in the case, Héctor Flores and Liz M. López Rivera, represent the Public Ministry.
