Prince George's County police released images of two persons of interest in the killing of a toddler last week in Langley Park.
Stray gunfire struck 2-year-old Jeremy Poou-Caceres and his teenage mother Thursday evening, killing the boy. His mother, who was pushing the boy in a stroller when shots were fired, has been released from a hospital.
Police arrested 33-year-old Israel Fuentes Jr. and 28-year-old Johnny Alejandro Turcios and charged them with first-degree murder and related charges. They are being held without bond.
The suspects were with two other men in a gold 2003 Ford Explorer that had been carjacked the day before, Feb. 7. They were shooting at another group of people, police said.
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Convenience store surveillance video from the day the Ford Explorer was carjacked shows two persons of interest arriving in the stolen car.
Police ask anyone who can help identify the persons of interest call homicide detectives at 301-516-2512. There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest of suspects.
Charging documents reveal how police identified Fuentes and Turcios as suspects. Detectives say Fuentes called police 90 minutes after the shooting and made up a story saying his cellphone and money had been taken in an armed robbery near the shooting scene.
Investigators say Fuentes blocked the number from which he was calling to prevent police from seeing that he had a second cellphone, which they say showed “consciousness of guilt.”
Police say they located Fuentes’ phone at an apartment on University Boulevard. That’s where they took Turcios in for questioning. Police say that at the apartment, they found a gun and, on the steps, a blue latex glove that matched a glove found near the getaway car — the Ford Explorer that had been carjacked.
Police say a witness saw Fuentes and Turcios shoot guns at another group in a grassy field during a dispute over drug territory, striking the toddler and his mother.
They were not the intended targets, police said.
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