‘Ive got five, and Im going to hit:’ Man standing trial in deadly shooting in York – York Daily Record

Edwin Joey Pacheco-Ruiz planned to spend time alone with his girlfriend on May 28, 2017.

Willie "Homer" Peterson III, 29, of York.(Photo: Submitted)

He had dropped his son off in a custody exchange, and the couple decided to go out for a drink. Thats when he saw a man in the street who was flagging him down. So Pacheco-Ruiz pulled over and let him into the backseat of his SUV, a Chevrolet Equinox LT.

That was a mistake. A huge mistake, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Dave Maisch said on Monday in the York County Judicial Center. And it cost Joey his life.

The man, referring to bullets, stated, Ive got five, and Im going to hit. Pacheco-Ruiz begged the person whom he referred to as Homer not to shoot. But it was to no avail, prosecutors said.

Pacheco-Ruiz fell into his girlfriends lap. She tried to steer the SUV from the front-passenger seat but lost control of the vehicle, crashing into a home on East Princess and Lexington streets in York.

Two days later, Pacheco-Ruiz died at York Hospital. He was 29.

More than 2 1/2 years later, Willie Homer Peterson III, 29, of York, is standing trial this week in the York County Court of Common Pleas on charges of first- and third-degree murder. Hes arguing that a key witness erroneously identified him.

RELATED: Homicides in York County: Here's who was killed in 2019, and how many remain unsolved

Common Pleas Judge Maria Musti Cook is presiding over the trial, which is set to continue on Tuesday. Peterson is being held without bail in York County Prison.

READ: York County murderer must pay more than $4 million to woman's estate, federal judge rules

In his opening statement, Maisch said Pacheco-Ruizs girlfriend told law enforcement that the shooter's namewas Homer. She later picked him out of an eight-person photo lineup.

Meanwhile, Peterson went on the lam for aboutthree months.

CHECK OUT: 'This defendant will never leave prison alive:' Man sentenced to life in prisonfor deadly stabbing in York

But Tom Kelley, Petersons attorney, said in his opening statement that the case was based on an improper and suggestive identification procedure.

No forensic evidence, he said, ties his client to the crime.

Lucille Bishop, Pacheco-Ruizs girlfriend, initially told police that the gunman's name was Omar. But that morphed into Homer after she spoke to LaCresha Cole-Carter, the mother of Pacheco-Ruizs child, Kelley said.

Cole-Carter showed Bishop a Facebook photo of Peterson before she identified him in the lineup.

Kelley said Cole-Carter "absolutely abhors" his client.

You have to pay attention to every single little detail about how this thing snowballed into an avalanche that sucked that man right into this courtroom, Kelley said. They have got the wrong guy.

Contact Dylan Segelbaum at 717-771-2102.

In this file photo from May 28, 2017, Edwin "Joey" Pacheco-Ruiz's SUV is seen after it crashed into a home on East Princess and Lexington streets in York. Willie "Homer" Peterson III is standing trial this week in the York County Court of Common Pleas on charges of first- and third-degree murder in Pacheco-Ruiz's death.(Photo: Gordon Rago, York Daily Record)

Read or Share this story: https://www.ydr.com/story/news/crime/2020/01/13/willie-peterson-iii-standing-trial-first-degree-murder-york-county/4453444002/

View original post here:

'Ive got five, and Im going to hit:' Man standing trial in deadly shooting in York - York Daily Record

Related Posts

Comments are closed.