A second suspect was arrested for homicide in connection to a string of drug-facilitated robberies of males who visited homosexual bars in New York Metropolis that included two deaths, two senior legislation enforcement officers informed NBC Information on Monday.
Robert Demaio, 34, was charged with homicide, theft, grand larceny, id theft and conspiracy in connection to the dying of John Umberger a 33-year-old political advisor, and in a separate incident through which an unidentified sufferer didn’t die, the officers mentioned.
Umberger and Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social employee, each discovered lifeless after visiting homosexual bars in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood final spring. Each had left the bars with at the very least one unknown individual earlier than their financial institution accounts had been drained of hundreds of {dollars} utilizing facial recognition entry on their telephones, in response to their members of the family.
Final month, the medical expert’s workplace dominated their deaths as homicides brought on by a “drug-facilitated theft.” A number of medicine had been discovered of their methods, together with fentanyl, lidocaine and cocaine.
Demaio’s detention follows the arrest of Jacob Barroso on Saturday. Barroso, 30, was charged with homicide, theft, grand larceny and conspiracy in reference to Ramirez’s dying and in a separate incident the place the sufferer survived, police mentioned Sunday.
Along with Demaio and Barroso, authorities named a 3rd suspect believed to be related to the homicides, Jayqwan Hamilton, 35, on Friday. Police mentioned they consider the three males are amongst these chargeable for a broader “citywide theft sample” that features at the very least 17 victims. The incidents — which embody Ramirez’s and Umberger’s robberies and deaths — occurred between Sept. 19, 2021, and Aug. 28, 2022, the spokesperson mentioned.
Final week, Shane Hoskins was arraigned on felony larceny and id theft prices in connection to the identical string of robberies.
An indictment naming Hoskins, 31, and 4 different unidentified co-conspirators outlined a sample the place victims had been “incapacitated to the extent that their skill to understand occasions grew to become diminished,” in order that the suspects might then steal their victims’ cell telephones and bank cards and use the bodily playing cards and knowledge saved on the victims’ telephones to switch cash to themselves and make purchases.
NBC Information has spoken with a number of homosexual males who mentioned they survived comparable incidents from December 2021 to October 2022.
The NYPD beforehand confirmed with NBC Information that there are a number of teams of criminals committing a lot of these crimes in opposition to males visiting town’s homosexual bars. Police additionally mentioned that comparable crimes had been being dedicated in opposition to patrons of bars with none LGBTQ affiliation.
One separate group is suspected of committing comparable crimes on 26 victims, two legislation enforcement officers informed NBC Information final week. Victims embody dressmaker Kathryn Marie Gallagher, whose dying in July was dominated a drug-facilitated murder by the medical expert’s workplace, was one of many subsequent group’s victims, the officers mentioned.
Final week, the New York Metropolis medical expert’s workplace additionally confirmed that it’s investigating “a number of extra deaths in comparable circumstances” to these of Ramirez and Umberger. It’s unclear, nevertheless, in the event that they had been discovered lifeless after visiting homosexual bars or whether or not they had been related with Demaio, Barroso and Hamilton.
A spokesperson for the medical expert’s workplace mentioned they “couldn’t remark additional as a result of ongoing prison investigations.”
