A man faces up to 20 years in prison for a killing seven years ago in Allentown, according to authorities.
Anderson Jorge Cruz, 27, was found guilty Wednesday by a Lehigh County jury in the April 26, 2018, killing of Juan Alfredo Sanchez. The jury found Cruz guilty of voluntary manslaughter, which is a felony, according to a news release from District Attorney Gavin Holihan.
Sanchez, 24, was shot in the 300 block of Linden Street after he and Cruz got into an argument, according to the DA’s office. The two were in a car together, and got into a fight. Authorities said Cruz pulled a handgun from under the seat of the vehicle, and shot Sanchez twice before fleeing the area.
Sanchez was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Cruz gave away the weapon, sold his car and fled to Massachusetts after investigators filed a warrant for his arrest, police said. He killed a man there about two months later, and he was arrested by federal authorities in a drug investigation one year later, the release states.
He pleaded guilty in the drug investigation and the homicide there before he was returned to Pennsylvania last year, the DA’s office said. He will be sentenced in March.