WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — Fernando Alejo, the 23-year-old Painesville man accused of murdering 17-year-old Rogelio Cabrera in downtown Willoughby, was ordered held without bond during a hearing on Thursday morning.
Alejo's case will now be bound over to a Lake County grand jury.
"I find the weight of the evidence against the accused is great," Willoughby Municipal Court Judge Marisa Cornachio said during the bond hearing. "He's going to be held without bond."
The charge against Alejo is in connection with a deadly Willoughby shooting that happened over the weekend.
Willoughby police officers were called to the alleyway adjacent to a restaurant in the 4000 block of Erie Street at around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday for a reported shooting. A witness told police they heard a gunshot from across the street and saw a victim lying on the ground, while a man was allegedly running away from the scene.
Officers found Rogelio, a 17-year-old Madison resident, near the back of the alley. Officers and paramedics rendered first aid, but the teen was determined to have died at the scene.
Willoughby police detective Charles Krejsa testified during Thursday's bond hearing that a second witness heard two gunshots, then saw a man fleeing the parking lot while tucking a gun into his waistband as he was going over a guardrail. He added that surveillance video corroborated the witnesses' stories and assisted police in identifying Alejo as the shooter.
Police found two shell casings at the crime scene and Krejsa noted that Rogelio sustained two gunshot wounds. However, investigators have not located the gun used in the shooting.
Alejo was captured at around 10 a.m. on Saturday morning on the Indiana Toll Road (Interstate 80/90) by state police officers who were able to identify the suspect vehicle. Krejsa told the hearing that Alejo has family in Chicago.
"It appears this defendant has ties to the community, however he fled the area right after this offense occurred. He fled the state. So that is of utmost concern," Cornachio added.
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