HARTFORD, Conn. — A Philadelphia man was arrested in connection to a home invasion that killed a 17-year-old Hartford girl in July, police announced Tuesday.
Elexer Orta, 29, was arrested as a fugitive by probation officers in Pennsylvania and extradited Monday to the Hartford Police Department.
He was charged with criminal attempted murder, felony murder, conspiracy to commit a home invasion, home invasion, unlawful restraint, risk of injury to a child, assault, and criminal liability. The bond is set to $3.5 million.
The investigation revealed that Orta is one of three suspects who was involved in an attempted robbery on July 15 in a Maple Ave. apartment. Shots were fired between the suspects and someone inside, and that resulted in 17-year-old Alondra Vega-Martinez's death. She was found in the apartment with gunshot wounds and was taken to Connecticut Children's, where she died about three days later.
A man who lived in the Hartford apartment was also shot; he survived and was not arrested, according to a report from the Associated Press.
Officers on the way to the shooting saw a vehicle had crashed at the intersection of Maple Ave. and Benton St. A man found in the car had multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to the hospital for treatment. He was later released.
It was not immediately clear how the person in the car, who was not identified, was related to the home invasion and subsequent shooting.
Police were then called to the 100 block of Wethersfield Ave. on a report of two men suffering from gunshot wounds who were just dropped off in the area. Both were taken to the hospital, where Carlos Frank-Nieves, 34, was listed in critical condition and, Joseph Vargas-Mercado, 25, of Philadelphia, was pronounced dead.
When Frank-Nieves was released from the hospital on July 17, he was taken into Hartford police custody and arrested in connection to the home invasion. He then faced a judge and was held on a $3 million bond.
Police found a firearm, a large amount of U.S. currency, and a money-counting machine in the apartment.
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