A fifth person has been charged in a 2024 fatal shooting at an Allentown basketball court that left a 25-year-old man dead.
Alfeni Romero-Taveras, 22, of the city, is charged with felony criminal homicide; felony conspiracy to commit criminal homicide; and misdemeanor evidence tampering.
Romero-Taveras was arraigned Friday on the new charges. He was already incarcerated at Lehigh County jail in a separate case and remains held without bail, Pamela Lehman, spokeswoman for the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office, told lehighvalleylive.com.
District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan and Allentown Police Chief Charles Roca announced the charges Monday against Romero-Tavares, whom they said is the gunman who killed 25-year-old Angel Martinez-Velez.
No attorney information was immediately available for Romero-Taveras, who is the fifth suspect charged in the case.
Co-defendants include 29-year-old Grelvis Estevez Cabrera, 20-year-old Carlos Nathaniel Landesta-Agramonte; 22-year-old Joel Garcia-Paulino and 23-year-old Wilmer Esquiel Marte-Tavarez.
City officers were called shortly before 6:30 p.m. June 1, 2024, to Fountain Park, 924 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, for a reported shots fired.
They found Martinez-Velez deceased on the basketball court with multiple gunshot wounds, according to the affidavit of probable cause. The court record lays out evidence and witness testimony against a defendant.
Martinez-Velez was pronounced dead just after 7:15 p.m.
Immediately after the shooting and 911 calls, city cameras recorded two vehicles matching witness descriptions fleeing Fountain Park and appearing to be traveling together, court records say.
Investigators tracked the vehicles, a Honda and an Infinity, through the city on the camera system.
Investigators were able to identify the license plate of the Honda and observed a front seat passenger wearing a red jacket, which matched a description provided by witnesses. The Infinity was registered to Landesta-Agramonte, authorities said.
Investigators obtained a search warrant and two hours after the shooting arrived at Landesta-Agramonte’s East Court Street home. Both vehicles were found and seized two blocks away on North Ellsworth Street, court records state.
Clothing and a facial mask matching descriptions provided by witnesses of the suspects was found in both the trunks of the Honda and Infiniti, according to court records.
A witness told investigators Romero-Tavaras allegedly was one of the armed men who shot and killed the victim. Romero-Tavares’ DNA was also found on some of the clothing recovered after the shooting, court records say.
Both Landesta-Agramonte and Esteves Cabrera on June 5, 2024 arrived at the Allentown Police Department Criminal Investigations Division and were taken into custody.
Landesta-Agramonte in an interview with investigators admitted to being at the scene and being a passenger in the Honda, while Esteves Cabrera admitted to being the Infiniti driver.
Fingerprint evidence obtained from the Honda connected Marte-Tavarez to being involved in the incident, the DA’s Office said.
Romero-Taveras is due back in court for a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday. A judge will then determine if there’s sufficient evidence to send the case toward trial at the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas.
Landesta-Agramonte, of the 400 block of East Court Street in Allentown, pleaded guilty Sept. 29 to felony murder and felony conspiracy to commit murder. He’s scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 25 before Judge Caffrey. Landesta-Agramonte faces a maximum sentence of up to 40 years in state prison.
Cabrera, of the 400 block of West Broad Street in Bethlehem, was found guilty earlier this month of felony criminal homicide; felony murder; felony conspiracy to commit criminal homicide; and misdemeanor evidence tampering. He’s scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. Nov. 25 before Caffrey and faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison, without parole.
Garcia-Paulino, of Nothampton Borough, and Marte-Tavarez, of Lords Valley, Pike County, are awaiting trial on similar charges.
Tonya Helaine Tharp and David D. Ritte, the public defenders representing Cabrera and Landesta-Agramonte, respectively, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Monday afternoon.
Eric Alexander Harakal, the public defender representing Marte-Tavarez, also couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Molly Magin Heidorn, the public defender appointed to Garcia-Paulino, declined comment.
Investigators believe additional suspects might also have been involved in the incident and continue to seek witnesses. The investigation remains ongoing.
The case is investigated by Allentown Police Detective Theodore Kiskeravage and Lehigh County Homicide Task Force Detective Moses Miller. The case is being prosecuted by Lehigh County Senior Deputy District Attorney Ramma R. Mineo and Lehigh County Chief of Prosecutions Patricia Fuentes Mulqueen.
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