SPD Homicide Unit Investigation Leads to 2nd Suspect in January 27th Homicide Indicted on Murder Charges

Springfield, Mass.  — On Wednesday June 8th at approximately 8:10 a.m. members of the Springfield Police Department’s Warrant Apprehension Unit, United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force, Massachusetts State Police VFAS and Hampden County Sheriff’s Department arrested a juvenile inside a home on Northampton Avenue on an arrest warrant for murder charges.

On Tuesday June 7th a Hampden Superior Court Grand Jury indicted the 16-year-old male in connection with the January 27th shooting death of 29-year-old Jorge Rivera-Ortiz after the Hampden District Attorney’s Office presented its case.

On Thursday January 27th at approximately 5:10 a.m. Springfield Police Officers responded to the intersection of Pinevale Street and Essex Street in Indian Orchard for a report of an unresponsive male inside a car.  When officers arrived they found that the male, later identified as Rivera-Ortiz, was deceased and suffered from a gunshot wound.  The Springfield Police Department’s Homicide Unit took over the investigation.  The investigation revealed that the victim was shot and killed some time prior to when the body was discovered.

A Springfield Police Department Homicide Unit investigation under the direction of Captain Trent Duda previously led to the April 13th arrest of 26-year-old Jerry Ramos of Springfield for murder and firearms charges in connection to this case.