Scranton man charged with murder in shooting death of his brother

JEFF HORVATH, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·2 min read
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A 24-year-old Scranton man who police say shot his brother 10 times in the back and head during an argument early Monday faces first-degree murder and other charges.

Carlos Dagoberto Rivera, 1711 Pittston Ave., Apt. 1, was standing in the doorway of a second floor apartment at that address when city police responding to a reported loud fight and gunfire arrived at about 3 a.m. He told police that his brother, 32-year-old Walter Reyes, was hurt inside the first-floor apartment.

Police found Reyes lying face down near the backdoor, apparently shot in the back. A black handgun rested near his left hand and there were multiple spent shell casing scattered on the floor, police wrote in charging documents.

While Rivera told officers that Reyes had shot himself, Adrianna Flores, the mother of both men who called police to the scene, said she thought Rivera shot Reyes during the argument, police said.

Reyes was rushed by ambulance to Geisinger Community Medical Center but died from his injuries. An affidavit filed by Scranton Detective Melissa Forsette said an autopsy conducted at the Northeast Forensic Center revealed eight gunshot wounds to Reyes' back and two to the back of his head.

Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Rowland ruled the cause of death a homicide.

At GCMC, Flores told Forsette she had heard loud arguing coming from the first-floor apartment where Rivera and Reyes lived with Rivera's infant daughter, and that Reyes told her Rivera was drunk, out of control and dangerous. Flores, aware that Rivera had a gun, called 911, police said.

After she disconnected with the operator, Flores heard gunshots and called 911 again.

When the hospital chaplain, emergency department surgeon and Forsette told Flores that Reyes had died she became extremely upset, yelling: "Carlos killed him, he killed his brother, now Carlos is going to have to pay for what he has done," the affidavit notes.

Police also reported that two women, identified only as Witness 1 and Witness 2, had gone to the apartment to hang out with Rivera and Reyes and saw the fatal shooting.

An argument between the brothers had seemingly calmed down when Rivera briefly left and reentered the kitchen, where Reyes was sitting at a table, the first witness told police. Rivera, standing by the stove behind his brother, raised a gun to Reyes' back and began to fire without warning, she said.

"He just looked blank in the face like he was empty inside and started shooting him," the affidavit reads.

After he shot Reyes, Rivera told the two women to go and they fled out the front door, afraid that they'd also be shot, police said.

The second woman corroborated Witness 1's account.

Investigators charged Rivera with first- and third-degree murder and four counts of reckless endangerment. He was denied bail and remains in Lackawanna County Prison.

A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for May 13.