According to OCDA, Syracuse police arrested 23-year-old Chavez Ocasio on Monday. Ocasio was charged with second-degree murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence. He pleaded not guilty to an arraignment on Tuesday.
Ocasio is facing life in prison and is being held at the Onondaga County Justice Center, according to OCDA. He is expected in court on Friday.
The children were shot around 6:51 p.m. on Sunday while sitting in the back of a vehicle, investigative chief Derek McGork said at a news conference Monday.
McGork said two women were driving when the gunshot was shot from a passing car. The women drove off and stopped when they realized the children had been shot, he explained.
“They drove off while being shot at. After realizing that the children had been injured, she stopped and called 911,” he said.
“She was just a baby,” Seymore told the branch. She was so strong. She didn’t even cry when it happened, but we lost her. ”
Seymore said Dior would have turned 1 on April 29, WSTM reported.
The grieving mother said her baby was loving, playful and full of life, according to WSTM.
The two injured children were identified as 3-year-old and 8-year-old girls and are in a stable condition, Syracuse Police Chief Kenton T. Buckner said.
“These were babies in the back of this car,” Buckner said. Police did not say whether the two women were injured.
Buckner said he did not know if the attack was the target.
Ocasio was arrested in 2015 for second-degree burglary, a Class C felony in New York. According to the New York State Inmate Lookup website, Ocasio was released on parole in September 2019.