The Bacolod City Prosecutor’s Office has recommended the filing of special complex crime of rape with homicide and attempted murder charges against an ex-convict for the killing of a teenager, and molesting and trying to kill his girlfriend in November 20 last year at the BREDCO Port area in Bacolod City.

A 10-page resolution prepared by Prosecutor II Ma. Theresa Ditching, and approved by Bacolod City Prosecutor Armando Abanado, recommended the filing of the charges against respondent Ariel de la Cruz y Razo before a Family Court, since the victims are all minors.

Victim Joshua Lopez,15, succumbed to a bullet wound in the head, after he was shot by the de la Cruz. While he lay dying, the suspect molested his 14-year- old girlfriend.

The girl managed to grapple with the suspect for his gun , causing the magazine of ammunition to be from the firearm. She also bit the hand of the suspect and hit him in the head with her hands, forcing him to release her.

As she ran away from the crime scene, she was shot by the suspect, but he missed her . She was later helped by two men, in reporting the incident to the Bacolod City Police Office Station 1.

The surviving minor identified de la Cruz as the one who had molested her and who shot Lopez through a picture shown to her at the Station 1 police precinct.

Before the incident, de la Cruz, a resident of Brgy. 10, Bacolod City, had engaged in a drinking spree with witnesses, who extended cooperation to the BCPO investigators.

A medical report issued by Dr. Eli Cong, dated Nov. 21 last year, showed signs of external injuries and of being molested. Lopez, sustained a gunshot wound in the head, that had caused his death.

Linda Lopez, grandmother of Joshua Lopez, yesterday called on the court to hasten the resolution of the case, and for the issuance of an arrest warrant for de la Cruz.

Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz, BCPO director, yesterday said there is no arrest warrant issued yet against de la Cruz, but they already have a copy of the resolution of the City Prosecutor’s Office, recommending the filing of charges against the suspect.

“We have a strong case against the suspect,” de la Paz said, citing the testimonies of the companions of de la Cruz, who are cooperating in their investigations.*GPB

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