A Bethlehem man was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a 2024 killing at an Allentown park, the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office said.
Grelvis Estevez Cabrera, 29, was convicted in October of criminal homicide and other charges in the June 1, 2024, death of Angel Martinez-Velez, 25, of Allentown, who was shot several times while playing basketball at Fountain Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
Estevez Cabrera is one of five people charged in the killing. He received the mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder of the first degree and an additional nine to 40 years for conspiracy to commit criminal homicide of the first degree.
Other defendants charged in the case include Alfeni Romero-Taveras, Joel Garcia Paulino and Wilmer Esquiel Marte-Tavarez, who are all awaiting trial.
Carlos Landesta-Agramonte was also charged and pleaded guilty in November to murder of the third degree and conspiracy to commit murder of the third degree. He was sentenced to serve 20 to 40 years in state prison.
According to court records, witnesses saw two gunmen in distinct clothing flee the shooting in a vehicle. A second vehicle was also in the area of Fountain Park during the shooting, court documents state.
The suspects fled in two different vehicles, according to detectives, who seized those vehicles. Detectives discovered clothing and masks that matched the description given by witnesses to the shooting, authorities said.
One witness told authorities that prior to the shooting, several people at an apartment had discussed shooting Martinez-Velez, and that Romero-Taveras was the one who shot him, police said. Romero-Taveras’ DNA was found on the mask and clothes discovered in the investigation, court documents state.