News

Jun 27, 2023

2 men arrested in Lebanon homicide that killed children, teenager

Prosecutors believe that two men “jointly committed” Tuesday night’s triple

Prosecutors believe that two men "jointly committed" Tuesday night's triple homicide in Lebanon, with both now in custody, the Lebanon County District Attorney's office said Wednesday night.

The office of Lebanon District Attorney Pier Hess Graf identified Alex Torres Santos and James Fernandez-Reyes as the suspects in the shooting that killed two children and a teenager, and wounded a fourth person.

Santos was free on bail from previous gun charges, Graf's office said in Wednesday's statement, and was arrested after fleeing a residence where an AR-15 and ammunition - consistent with that used in the killings – were discovered.

Charges for Santos and Fernandez-Reyes relating to the shooting were not in the electronic docket as of Wednesday night; Santos’ previous criminal record indicates his age as 22.

In Wednesday's statement, Graf suggested she would seek the highest possible homicide charges.

Two children ages 8, 9 and a 19-year-old, died in a shooting Tuesday along the 400 block of North Fifth Street in Lebanon. A fourth person was injured. (Photo by Sue Gleiter, [email protected])

"Younger and younger defendants are picking up handguns and committing senseless shootings," Graf wrote. "Every homicide trial we undertake results in a first-degree conviction. 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."

According to the Graf's office, at least 27 rounds were fired from two different caliber firearms in Tuesday's homicides. Prosecutors believe Santos supplied the guns, and that both men fired into the victims’ homes.

The shooting occurred around 10 p.m. Tuesday in the 400 block of North Fifth Street in Lebanon, according to police, with officers discovering three young people dead of gunshot wounds – Joshua Lugo-Perez, 19; Sebastian Perez-Salome, 9; and Jesus Perez-Salome, 8. All three lived in the same household, according to the district attorney.

A fourth person - Luis Cancel, 33 – was also identified by police as being wounded in the incident. Cancel is the victims’ next-door neighbor, according to Graf's office, and was hit by "what appeared to be a stray, untargeted bullet." Cancel is expected to recover, according to the district attorney.

Graf's office said Wednesday that Santos wore a house-arrest bracelet – placed on him as a bail condition from a prior incident – to the scene of the crime, and was identified by the county probation office as having traveled to the exact location of the homicides at the time they occurred.

Santos fled the residence he was in when the Lebanon County SWAT team arrived to apprehend him, according to Graf's office. Fernandez-Reyes also fled the residence with Santos, according to the district attorney, but both men were located and arrested. A search of the residence from which the suspects fled "revealed multiple firearms."

Lebanon Police Chief Bret Fisher,left, speaks as Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello listens during a news conference at City Hall in Lebanon, Pa., Wednesday, May 31, 2023. (Matthew Toth/Lebanon Daily News via AP)

According to Graf's office, Santos previously had been arrested by Lebanon police on two sets of charges from two prior firearms incidents – one in which police say Santos brandished a handgun, and another in which police say he was in possession of crack cocaine and a handgun with an altered serial number.

Santos was arrested for both sets of charges in February, according to online court dockets, and posted $50,000 bail, with Graf's office saying the electronic monitoring bracelet was a condition of this.

Tuesday's shootings are being jointly investigated by the Lebanon City Police Department and the Lebanon County Detective Bureau; anyone with further information is asked to contact either office, according to the district attorney.

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Fund drive launched to help with burial costs for youngest victims of Lebanon triple homicide

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