Third man charged in connection to murder of Fall River teen held on $500,000 cash bail

FALL RIVER — A third Fall River man arrested in connection with last week’s shooting death of 18-year-old Resiliency Preparatory Academy student Colus Jamal Mills-Good was arraigned in Fall River District Court on Wednesday on a charge of accessory to murder after the fact. He was ordered held on $500,000 cash bail.

Jadyn Ortiz, 19, was given double the amount of cash bail than his alleged accomplices, Xzavien Figueroa-Valcarel, 19, and Giovanni Nunes, 18, who were arraigned Tuesday on the same charge.

The two men were each ordered held on $250,000 cash bail; Figueroa-Valcarel, who has a pending case of illegally possessing ammunition, had his bail revoked in that case.

Fall River District Court Judge David P. Sorrenti also revoked Ortiz’s bail from three pending criminal cases the 19-year-old is facing in District Court, in addition to the latest criminal charge.

Most recently, Ortiz was arrested in January on charges of cocaine trafficking and carrying a dangerous weapon; on Jan. 25, 2023, he was charged with providing false identification to a law enforcement officer; and on Jan. 3, 2023, he was arrested and charged with improper storage of a firearm.

The Bristol County District Attorney’s office requested that Ortiz be held on $250,000 cash bail for the shooting case and requested bail revocation.

The judge ordered Ortiz held on $500,000 bail for the shooting case and a revocation of bail on the outstanding cases.

Ortiz’s defense attorney, John Geary, agreed with the order of $500,000 cash bail, but asked that it be levied without prejudice, meaning the defendant could ask for a bail reduction in the future.

Geary, who was appointed to the Ortiz case Wednesday morning, said the reasoning was that additional charges could be forthcoming and that while he felt that a reduction in bail was defensible, he would need time to prepare.

Rock Street homicide: Investigation continues into fatal shooting of Fall River teen; police increase presence

Homicide caught on camera

As he did during Tuesday’s arraignments, Assistant District Attorney Jason Mahon laid out details of last Thursday’s broad daylight shooting on Rock Street in front of the Abbey Grill.

Mills-Good was walking to the Resiliency Preparatory Academy, about a block away. Mahon said the crime, which saw Mills-Good shot three times at point-blank range, was caught on surveillance camera.

The prosecutor said four men in a black Acura pulled up and parked on the cross-street, Franklin Street, as Mills-Good approached the intersection on foot.

“As Mr. Mills-Good approached the intersection, three young adult men got out of the car. The front street passenger exited the vehicle, went to the intersection and started shooting at Mr. Mills-Good from some distance,” said Mahon.

That man fired four shots from a .40-caliber handgun.

“The back-seat passenger behind the driver also exited the car and ran directly at Mr. Mills-Good and shot him at point-blank range,” said Mahon.

Fall River police found five .45-caliber shell casings from that location.

Mahon said all three men ran back to the vehicle, which sped away.

Mills-Good was shot three times and was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, where he had emergency surgery but succumbed to his injuries.

Ortiz' alleged role

Police located the Acura at an address on Fourth Street. Figueroa-Valcarel and Nunes allegedly fled the city in a Lyft. In their investigation, police allegedly pinged Figueroa-Valcarel's cellphone and found him in Randolph, where he and Nunes were arrested by police on March 15.

Mahon said police found out that immediately after the shooting of Mills-Good, Ortiz allegedly gave Nunes $100 through a cash app account, money they allegedly used to hire a car on Nunes’ Lyft account.

Police found Ortiz on Tuesday night in an apartment on Grant Street, according to Mahon.

“The homeowner of that apartment said he’d been there for two days, where Ortiz had over $1,300 in cash on his person,” said Mahon.

The prosecutor said during a search of the Grant Street apartment building, police looked outside a window and discovered a .40-caliber handgun on a small ledge.

“That firearm was seized and is being processed for evidence to see if there is any connection with the .40-caliber firearm used to shoot Mr. Mills-Good on March 14,” said Mahon.

Ortiz will be in court next on May 3 for a probable cause hearing.

Nunes has a probable cause hearing on April 19 and Figueroa-Valcarel has a probable cause hearing and a bench trial for his revoked bail on April 22.

The homicide of Mills-Good is an ongoing investigation. Law enforcement has not yet identified any of the three defendants as the two men they allege to be the shooters.

The case is expected to go to a grand jury.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Jadyn Ortiz, 19, charged in connection to Fall River teen's murder