Bronx man arrested five years after Middletown shooting death of Sebastian Avilan-Medina

Mike Randall, Middletown Times Herald- Record
·2 min read

MIDDLETOWN - City police announced late Friday they have arrested a suspect in the 2019 shooting death of Sebastian Avilan-Medina.

The arrest comes one month after police said the cold case homicide was still a top prioroty for them and appealed to the public for help in finding the person or persons responsible.

Middletown police detectives arrested Dijion D. Constantine, 23, in the Bronx on Thursday and charged him with second-degree murder, a felony.

They were assisted at the scene by investigators from the FBI Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, state police and the state's Division of Parole.

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Constantine was arraigned in Middletown City Court and sent without bail to the Orange County jail, pending further court action. The name of his attorney was not immediately available.

Avilan-Medina, 26, was found shot to death at his home in an apartment on Knapp Avenue on March 11, 2019.

Police said last month they are searching for two primary suspects.

In addition to the FBI, state police and the Division of Parole, Middletown police are being assisted in their investigation by Orange County's district attorney's and sheriff's offices, the NYPD, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Hudson Valley Crime Analysis Center, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Sullivan County District Attorney's Office.

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Middletown Police Chief John Ewanciw said in a statement, "This is a major milestone in what has proven to be a very challenging investigation into this horrible crime against our community. I am eternally grateful for the tireless work of the Middletown Police Detective Division and the many other agencies who have worked so closely with us to develop new leads and other information that subsequently led to this arrest."

If any members of the public have any relevant information that would assist the continuing investigation, they are asked to contact Middletown police at 845-343-3151, Detective Sgt. Rob Mecocci at rmecocci@middletownpolice.com or visit the department's Facebook page.

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record, Poughkeepsie Journal and The Journal News/lohud. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com or on Twitter @mikerandall845.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Bronx man charged in 2019 Middletown cold case homicide