A 14-year-old girl has been charged with the deadly shooting of a contractor outside a house in Rhode Island earlier this month. Providence police have also charged another 18-year-old boy with the murder and conspiracy on Monday. Police said that they had been suspecting the involvement of a minor girl in the homicide and were looking for her over the past week.
The girl went missing after the shooting and was arrested only recently. However, the police didn't disclose her name given that she is a minor. The news comes amid growing incidents of gun violence across the United States involving teens that have left authorities worried.
Teenage Crime
Providence police found a 14-year-old missing girl on Friday, who they have now charged with the murder of Jorge Gonzalez Colon, a 37-year-old contractor, who was shot dead outside a Providence home he was working on in the city's Silver Lake neighborhood. Colon was shot multiple times on July 1 and was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Another suspect, Felix Hernandez-Rosado, an 18-year-old boy, has also been charged with murder and conspiracy in the case. Police had previously said that they believed that Hernandez-Rosado was with a 14-year-old girl who went missing after the shooting. However, the girl was finally tracked on Friday and has been sent to Rhode Island Training School and was arraigned at Family Court on Monday.
Mistaken Identity?
Police believe that the minor girl and Hernandez-Rosado separated immediately after the shooting. They are also of the opinion that Colon wasn't the intended target and he may have been a victim of mistaken identity but the 14-year-old girl definitely played an integral role in the homicide. Colon knew the family that was staying at the home where he was working and there are chances that Hernandez-Rosado wanted to target one of the family members.
Hernandez-Rosado has also been charged with third-degree sexual assault but the reason is yet unknown. Also, the police declined to say what led to the shooting or what evidence led them to prove that the suspected 14-year-old girl involved in the shooting is the same that they found on Friday. The identity of the girl hasn't been made public since she is a minor. It is also unknown how the girl is related to Hernandez-Rosado or if she was kidnapped and made a part of the deadly shooting.
