A staged robbery, a contract killing, a woman shot twice with her 1 year-old in the back seat of the car and two suspects that showed incredible stupidity, which led to their capture, makes for a tale that could rival a writers imagination.
Carlos Cruz is 36 years old and he is being charged with first degree murder in the death of Chelsea Frazier who was just 18.
Chelsea was shot twice in the torso, in the front seat of her car, and her 1 year-old child sat in the backseat as she lay bleeding. She died on the way to the hospital.
It seems Cruz had hired his 25 year old cousin Devon Miller to kill Chelsea. The price of her life was $1,000. Devon Miller is being charged with murder as well.
After it first happened, Cruz told police it was a robbery, but after the police investigated the crime they found that Cruz had actually hired Miller and after Miller shot Chelsea, Cruz actually chased him down the street, not to catch him, but to remind him that he hadn't shot Cruz as well.
Miller then shot Cruz in the leg and made his getaway.
A witness has told police they saw Cruz chasing the gunman and yelling something to him, but couldn't hear what it was and also saw the gunman turn and shoot Cruz. The witness then described the suspect as having dreadlocks or braids and jumping into green sport utility vehicle before driving off.
After speaking with Cruz in the hospital, the authorities noticed his story changed a bit, yet they said they kept an open mind but became suspicious when Devon Miller visited Cruz in the hospital and they saw he had dreadlocks.
When Cruz was released from the Jacobi Medical Center on Monday afternoon, police asked him to come to the station to look at photographs and help them create a sketch of the gunman.
Miller followed Cruz to the police station, driving up in a green 1995 Chevy Tahoe S.U.V.
By the time Devon Miller walked out of the police station in the Bronx, it was in handcuffs with detectives on both sides.
According to authorities both suspects have admitted the part they played in Chelsea Frazier's death.
Devon Miller's father, Harry says, "The whole family is in disbelief. The whole family is in an uproar. I don’t even want to talk to a lot of my family because I don’t know what to say."
Police believe the motive was that Cruz was angry that Chelsea was breaking things off and was worried she would cut them off from the child, Alijah.
Now that child has no mother and a father that will be absent because he will be in jail for killing his mother.
Devon Miller has a criminal record and has served two years in state prison for criminal possession of a weapon for his part in a Brooklyn killing, and 21 months for crack cocaine possession.
Cruz has been arrested but details of that arrest are not available as of yet.
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