On a September day in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 36-year-old Pedro Juan Almodovar was fatally shot while sitting in the front passenger seat of a vehicle. The incident, which occurred on September 23, 2019, in the 300 block of Howard Avenue, was described by law enforcement as a 'cold-blooded murder.' Almodovar was struck in the torso and died at the scene; the female driver of the vehicle was unharmed.
The investigation quickly led police to identify 38-year-old Raymond Lydell Speller as the primary suspect. Surveillance footage captured the moments leading up to the shooting, showing another individual approaching the vehicle and acknowledging the occupants before walking away. Shortly after, Speller was seen exiting a nearby residence with this individual, who remained on the porch as Speller approached the passenger side of the car and fired a single shot. A crucial piece of evidence that helped pinpoint Speller was his driver's license, discovered inside a nearby apartment where police were investigating a smoke alarm that had been triggered by unattended food on a hot stove.
Within a day of the shooting, a warrant was issued for Speller's arrest on charges of criminal homicide, persons not to possess firearms, and firearms not to be carried without a license. He surrendered to authorities on September 24, 2019, after police received a tip that he was inside a home on First Street and established a perimeter. During the investigation, it was revealed that the motive for the killing was revenge. Speller confessed to the shooting, stating that he believed Almodovar had been involved in the 2009 death of one of his friends.
In May 2021, a jury convicted Raymond Lydell Speller of first-degree murder and related firearms violations. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 7 ½ to 20 years. During his sentencing, Speller apologized to Almodovar's family, claiming he was not in the right state of mind at the time of the incident. Almodovar's sister read a statement in court, expressing the profound and lasting emptiness his death left in their family. Speller later appealed his conviction, arguing self-defense, but the Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the conviction and sentence in April 2023, finding no evidence to support his claim of imminent danger.
