Update: Suspect sought in Pawtucket fatal shooting
5:43 PM Thu, Jun 26, 2008 | Permalink
Email
 |
 |
Projo 7 to 7 News BlogTaking the news pulse of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, by Providence Journal and projo.com staff, from 7 to 7, every business day |
|
Get the 7 to 7 on your mobile at www.projo.com. Twitter: projo | RSS | Email alerts
« Reporter's query: Are you a cash-strapped student? |
Main
| Tonight: Author tells of pictorial journey in South County »
A gunshot wound to the head caused the death of a 26-year-old Pawtucket woman found dead at 14 Reservoir Ave., Pawtucket, last night, and a suspect is being sought. The woman was identified as Mayra Cruz in a news release from the state Office of Medical Examiners this afternoon giving the cause of death. She was one of three people shot to death in three Rhode Island cities last night. Pawtucket police are looking for Juan Diaz, 24, who is being sought on a charge of murder, according to Detective Sgt. Cory Jackson, the case's lead detective. He said Diaz may have left the state. A gun has not been recovered, the police said, and Diaz should be considered armed and dangerous. Police described Diaz as white, with brown hair, 6 feet tall, weighing about 200 pounds, unshaven, and not wearing glasses. Diaz "was known to the victim," police said. The police asked that any information be forwarded to the Pawtucket police criminal investigative division at 727-9100: Detective Michael Kane at ext. 759 or Detective Sgt. Jackson at ext. 722. If there is no answer, the police said to call 727-9100, ext. 712. Jackson said police are proceeding on the theory that the shooting was a murder, although the police dispatch log indicates a 9-1-1 call from a distressed male at the site of the shooting -- 14 Reservoir Ave. -- that came in at 9:56 last night. The caller reported he had accidentally shot his girlfriend in the face about two hours earlier during a struggle over a gun. -- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with Journal archival reports Earlier today, building owner Jacinta Fernandes said that about 9:50 last night, while at a baseball game with her son, she got a call from neighbors telling her she might want to come home, because there were police cars all over the place. When she returned to her house, Fernandes said, the body was in the basement apartment and she wasn’t allowed in. Fernandes said the man who lived there had been staying in the basement apartment since the end of March. Jackson confirmed later today that Diaz, the suspect the police are looking for, lived in the basement apartment Fernandes had referred to. When the police arrived at the address, they found a woman with a gunshot wound to the head. She was declared dead at the scene, according to Jackson. The police were told that a possible armed suspect was inside the house; the building was secured by the Pawtucket Police Special Response Team. No one else was found in the house, according to Jackson’s statement. 
|
New comments
New photos
New posts
Projo blogs
Archives
Leave a comment
Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.