Men charged in shooting death of 2-year-old Prince George's County boy denied bond
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. - The two men charged in connection with the shooting death of a 2-year-old boy in Prince George’s County last week were denied bond Monday.
Attorneys for Israel Fuentes and Johnny Turcious did not ask the judge to let their clients out on bond at this time.
Both face murder charges in the death of 2-year-old Jeremy Poou-Caceres. They appeared via video conference Monday.
The prosecution emphasized this is an ongoing investigation as police are still searching for people they believe were involved in the shooting that killed Jeremy and wounded his mother, 17-year-old Rosa Caseras who spoke with Fox 5 about her and the family’s grief.
"It’s not easy," Caceres said, "Not only for me, but for my family, because Jeremy was not only my son, but he was also most of, like, with my two aunts, they were like the mother of my son too, they always took care of him and, it was hard for me, because he was the person I was holding onto to keep going with my life. And now I don’t have him."
Caceres and Jeremy were walking on the 1400 block of Kanahwa Street in Langley Park last Thursday when police say they were in the middle of crossfire not meant for them.
Court paperwork says nearly half-a-dozen witnesses came forward, there was video of the shooting, photographic evidence of people matching the suspects descriptions immediately before and after the shooting, and another witness positively identifying the two men charged.
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One witness told police they believed it was a dispute over drug distribution territory that led to the shooting.
According to court paperwork, when police brought one of the suspects into custody, Israel Fuentes said "I do feel horrible about what happened to that child."
The Prince George’s County State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy said her office is diligently prosecuting this case.
"My heart is broken. Our community is grieving. The family of the baby is grieving, but our job now is to pursue justice, which started today," said Braveboy.
According to the court paperwork, Israel Fuentes called police 90 minutes after the incident, saying his phone was stolen, which helped lead police to him.
After further investigation, the court paperwork says they believe Fuentes did that in order to conceal that his phone placed him near the scene of the shooting.
"Detectives believe this was an effort by Fuentes Jr. to explain why his historic cell phone location data would place him at the scene of the murder and to conceal his second cell phone number from police. This false report…is evidence of consciousness of guilt due to his involvement in the murder," according to the charging document.
Both suspects have preliminary hearings scheduled for March.