Shocking Turn: Suspect in Drive-By Shooting of Young Mom and Baby Captured in Puerto Rico

Authorities in Puerto Rico have detained a man suspected of killing a 20-year-old mother and her 4-month-old kid in what appears to have been a drive-by shooting in Hartford, Connecticut. The U.S. Marshals Service has charged Lance Morales, 23, with murder in connection with Tuesday’s deadly shooting. Originally from Waterbury, Connecticut, Morales fled to Puerto Rico after the shooting and was apprehended there on Saturday, according to the Marshals Service.According to authorities, he is currently awaiting extradition to Connecticut, where he will be charged.

Following reports that a car had arrived with several shooting victims, police were called to Hartford Hospital Tuesday afternoon, according to the Hartford Police Department. Messiah Diaz, the son of Jessiah Mercado, was declared dead at the hospital. According to authorities, another victim, who was in his 20s, was shot but did not have a life-threatening wound. The vehicle’s driver was unharmed. Police said investigators found the gunshot happened just before the suspect vehicle drew up alongside the victims’ car and started shooting.

“Investigators from the Hartford Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service Violent Fugitive Task Forces in Connecticut and Puerto Rico have worked tirelessly around the clock since the commission of this senseless and heinous act of violence to bring the suspect to justice,” said Lawrence Bobnick, acting U.S. marshal for the District of Connecticut, in a statement on Saturday. “This arrest is a testament to the close collaboration between the U.S. Marshals Service and our valued law enforcement partners and it demonstrates the reach these partnerships bring to the pursuit of justice.”