“This was not a random act”, said District Attorney Tom Hogan in a statement Friday afternoon.
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According to DA Thomas P. Hogan and West Chester Borough Police Chief Scott Bohn, the four men are charged with conspiracy, murder, robbery and related offenses.
Gerald Myers, Byron Stevens, Onray Winfield and Darrell Woodward are accused of luring Santiago to meet for a drug deal where he ended up shot to death. The victim’s body was found at the scene and identified as Cristian Santiago. The defendants are facing murder charges.
Police want to know who killed a teenager and left his body on the side of a road near the 700 block of Hillsdale Road in East Bradford Township Thursday night. “All over a little marijuana and a few dollars”. Grieving family members said they were told by police Santiago had been shot multiple times and was dumped at that location.
“This type of crime has become rare in West Chester where we pride ourselves on keeping our community safe”, said Bohn.
Officials in the West Chester Area School District sent a letter to district parents today informing them of Santiago’s death.
Police said that a security camera recorded the suspects entering cars.
The body was found on Hillsdale Road between Bradford Avenue and McIntosh Road.
A rash of vehicle break-ins in the same neighborhood is being investigated by the West Chester Police Department.
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Assisted by Chester County detectives, police conducted interviews and determined that Onray L. Winfield, 19, of West Chester, a friend of Santiago’s, arranged for Santiago to sell marijuana to Gerald D. Myers 3rd, 19, of West Chester, a ruse to set up a robbery, Hogan said in a press release.
