On a spring evening in the Bronx, 27-year-old Joshua Anthony Garcia was standing outside a deli near East 174th Street and Clay Avenue when his life was tragically cut short. It was just before 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 23, 2022, when a black Mercedes sedan turned the corner and unleashed a hail of bullets at the group of men gathered there. Witnesses reported hearing as many as seven shots fired in rapid succession. Garcia was struck in the chest and was rushed to Jacobi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Two other men, aged 34 and 39, were also hit by gunfire, suffering wounds to their legs, but they were expected to survive.
The brazen drive-by shooting was not a random act of violence. Investigators determined that the attack was gang-related. The perpetrators were allegedly targeting rival gang members when Garcia was killed. The investigation into the murder led authorities to two men, Justis Colon, 25, and Ariel Martinez, 23, both from the Bronx. The two were identified as alleged members of a gang known as '670,' which operated in the Castle Hill neighborhood.
In the weeks and months that followed, the case against the two suspects solidified. Ariel Martinez was arrested and charged about three weeks after the shooting. Later, in October 2022, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced the unsealing of an indictment charging both Colon and Martinez with a slate of serious federal offenses. The charges against them included racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, murder with a firearm, attempted murder, and assault with a deadly weapon in aid of racketeering. The indictment detailed the broader criminal enterprises of the 670 gang, which included narcotics distribution and various types of fraud, in addition to acts of violence intended to protect and expand their territory.
