CANDABA, Pampanga- A 33-year-old shabu-user was arrested yesterday by the local police for the rape and murder of his 12-year-old niece in Barangay Barit in this town.
Pampanga police director Senior Supt. Marlon Madrid identified the suspect as Jovany Edrino of Purok 4 in this town, who was arrested when he showed up last Monday in the wake of his niece Rochelle Velasquez, 12, in the latter’s home in Barit.
The heavily bruised body of the victim was found in an idle lot in the barangay after she was raped last Aug. 15. The child’s head was bashed, the police noted. In his report to Madrid, Candaba police chief Supt. Criscente Tiguelo said a special team he formed to on the case had concluded that Edrino was the probable suspect in the gruesome crime.
Witnesses testified that the suspect was the last person to be seen with the child last Aug. 15. Without knowing he was already identifi ed as the culprit, Endrino showed up at the wake of his victim at about 8 p.m. last Monday and was immediately arrested by the police.
The suspect was brought to the residence of Barangay Barit Chair Guillermo Mangalus and in the presence of the victim’s relatives, tearfully admitted to the crime. Police later found in the possession of the suspect one sachet of shabu.
