In the quiet suburbs of Hyattsville, Maryland, a life was tragically cut short, leaving a community in shock and a family heartbroken. Sixteen-year-old Angel Villatoro, a male resident of the town, was found dead on the evening of January 21, 2021. The grim discovery was made by patrol officers who were responding to a report of a shooting in the nearby community of Langley Park.
The officers arrived at the 8100 block of 14th Avenue at approximately 9:15 p.m. to find a chilling scene.
Inside a vacant apartment, they located Villatoro, who was suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The preliminary investigation suggested that the fatal shooting was the result of a dispute.
The events of that night took an even more dramatic turn a couple of hours later. While a police officer was at the homicide scene investigating Villatoro's death, a noise from a back bedroom window drew his attention. When he went to investigate, he discovered people outside the window. After the officer identified himself, those outside shouted anti-police statements at him. Without warning, a shot was fired from outside the window, narrowly missing the officer.
Officers who were outside the apartment building pursued the suspects on foot and apprehended them a short time later. The two individuals arrested were identified as 17-year-old Nelson Sanchez Perez of Langley Park and 19-year-old Joshua Jurado of the Chillum area. Detectives believe that Sanchez Perez and Jurado were the same individuals who had fled the murder scene earlier and had returned to shoot at the officer. Both suspects were charged with first-degree murder in connection with Angel Villatoro's death. Sanchez Perez was to be charged as an adult. Additional charges related to the attempted murder of the police officer were also pending.
