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Saturday, May 31, 2008
Villa-Abrille scion charged with murder
By Rhodamae M. Hernandez
DAVAO CITY -- Two counts of murder have been filed before the City Prosecutor's Office against a member of a prominent clan in Davao City for the May 23 shooting incident along F. Torres street.
The charges were filed Thursday afternoon against Ken Alder Villa-Abrille Lelis, who was positively identified by witnesses as the alleged gunman who fatally shot cousins Rey John Mojica Tolentino and Rommel Tolentino Siglos, both aged 22 years old, around 11:45 p.m. on May 23.
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Lelis was charged based on the affidavit-complaint filed by Tolentino's father, Renato. Four witnesses also executed their own affidavits; all of them pointed to Lelis as the "gunman."
In an affidavit, two of the witnesses claimed they were about to leave the Prime Square Complex around 11:45 on board a Ford Everest when the incident happened.
They said when they turned right on F. Torres street, they were caught in a slow moving traffic and stopped between Angel Funeral homes and Pista Lokal, a watering hole inside the complex. While waiting for traffic to move, they noticed two men shouting while walking.
"As I turned my attention to whom they were shouting at, I noticed it was at the passengers of a Hilux pick-up right in front of us," the witnesses said in their affidavits.
After a while, the witnesses claimed they saw a man, later identified as Siglos, came out of the Hilux pick-up and confronted the two men who ganged up on him.
They said when the brawling stopped, a man, later identified as Lelis, suddenly appeared in front of them, brandishing a handgun.
The two witnesses claimed they even heard the driver of the Hilux pick-up screamed: "May baril! May baril!"
They saw the victim (Siglos) ran towards the pick-up, followed by the "gunman," who shot Siglos on the head.
"The first victim (Siglos) sprawled forward before dropping beside the Hilux," the witnesses recalled.
They also claimed the alleged gunman proceeded to the driver's side of the Hilux pick-up and fired at the driver, later identified as Tolentino.
After the fires were shot, they saw the pick-up drove off and smashed at the Philippine National Police (PNP) building on J.P. Laurel Street.
The witnesses also claimed the "gunman" turned and walked past them.
"(The gunman turned and walked back towards us, and) that was the time I saw his face clearly. I had my hands on the wheel readying myself to speed off if the gunman decides to shoot us, but he just casually walked past us without even giving us a glance. Despite the scare, (we) cannot forget the face of the gunman," they said in their affidavits.
The witnesses also disclosed that they then drove towards the pick-up and parked beside the crashed vehicle after the shooting, where they saw Siglos bloodied and slumped on the steering wheel.
"We managed to pull the body out of the wreck and put him on the mobile patrol to be taken to the hospital," the witnesses claimed.
Both victims were brought to San Pedro Hospital and the witnesses reported the incident to San Pedro police the following day.
The police showed to the witnesses a school identification card bearing the picture and name of the accused, and based on it, the witnesses positively identified Lelis as the gunman.
The ID was reportedly recovered from what other witnesses claimed the gunman's getaway car, a Toyota Corolla sedan with plate number LCE 747.
"From the ID, I learned the name of the gunman... He was the gunman who went after Rommel Siglos and shot him in the head. He was the gunman who shot the driver, John Tolentino. He was the gunman who casually walked past us after killing the two persons in cold-blood," said the two witnesses.
They also stated in their affidavits that they saw Lelis boarded a Toyota Corolla parked on the street after the shooting.
"Our eyes were focused on the gunman. We had a clear look at him as he headed towards the opposite of the street... We immediately took note of the plate number of the vehicle which reads LCE 747," they stressed.
Police authorities recovered the vehicle at Riverside on Magallanes Street near the suspect's residence.
As of this writing Friday, the suspect still remains at large. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (May 31, 2008 issue)
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