Pennsylvania man accused of child murders wore GPS monitor from prior shootings during crime, prosecutor says
Lebanon DA rips local judge for low bail and ankle monitor
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Pennsylvania man out on bail for two prior shootings is now facing three murder charges in the slayings of two young boys and a teenager, according to prosecutors.
Alex Torres-Santos, 22, allegedly opened fire on a home in Lebanon around 10 p.m. Wednesday, killing 19-year-old Joshua Lugo-Perez and fatally striking 8- and 9-year-old brothers who were all on the back porch at the time of the shooting, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
Authorities believe Lugo-Perez was the intended target. He was not related to the two children, but Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said in a statement that he lived with their family.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A fourth victim, a 33-year-old neighbor, was struck by a bullet that tore into his home. He was rushed to the hospital and survived.
Alex Torres-Santos, 22, was out on bail and wearing an ankle monitor when police in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, say he and an accomplice opened fire on a teenager and two children, killing them all around 10 p.m. Wednesday. (Lebanon County District Attorney's Office)
Torres-Santos was arrested in January and again in February for allegedly shooting the same man both times. He was out on bail and wearing an ankle monitor, which police used to track his whereabouts at the time of Wednesday's triple murder.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hess Graf's office had requested $100,000 bail in each case, but a judge set it at just $50,000 and ordered an ankle monitor bracelet, she said.
"The location monitor and minimal bail imposed by the judge thus served as no deterrent to a violent criminal willing to take a life."
"[Torres-Santos] wore his bracelet to the homicide," Hess Graf said in a statement Thursday. "The location monitor and minimal bail imposed by the judge thus served as no deterrent to a violent criminal willing to take a life."
According to court documents, the GPS data showed Torres-Santos left his home at 9:42 p.m., lingered near the crime scene a few minutes around 10 p.m. and returned home about 20 minutes later.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Witnesses and surveillance video placed a suspect vehicle in the area at 10 p.m. and speeding away moments after the shooting, according to the court documents.
Read the affidavit (Mobile users go here)
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When police arrived at Torres-Santos' home to arrest him, he and a 16-year-old suspected accomplice fled, authorities said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}They took the 22-year-old into custody and found the juvenile hiding in a neighboring apartment, where they said they recovered a rifle, and a duffel bag containing Torres-Santos' driver's license, a digital drug scale and cocaine residue.
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A third unidentified suspect in Wednesday's shooting remains at large, according to authorities.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Until the criminal appreciates the true outcome of the taking of a life – spending the rest of his own locked into a cell – nothing will change," Hess Graf said.
The district attorney told local reporters Thursday that she was considering seeking the death penalty in the case, according to WGAL-TV.
The two boys were playing with their new kitten when the gunfire erupted, she said.
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Torres-Santos and the juvenile suspect face three counts each of homicide and conspiracy to commit criminal homicide, in addition to other charges.
Torres-Santos has a slew of prior charges in addition to the two shootings earlier this year, including drug dealing, driving without a license and possession of a weapon with its serial number removed.