In the late hours of a September evening in Camden, New Jersey, a 34-year-old Hispanic man named Jose Franco was walking alone on River Road. It was around 11:30 p.m. on September 27, 2015, when his path fatefully crossed with two other men who had spotted him as a target for a street robbery. Surveillance footage from the area would later show these two individuals stalking Franco before they made their move.
The two men, identified as Reymond Pagan and Samuel Lopez, confronted Franco
at gunpoint. A witness to the harrowing event saw one of the assailants rifling through Franco's pockets while the other held him at bay. They took a bag from him before fleeing into the night. In the immediate aftermath, Franco, despite having been shot in the chest, attempted to run for help. Police found him minutes later near the intersection of North 28th Street and Pierce Avenue. He was rushed to Cooper University Hospital, but his injuries were too severe, and he died the following day.
An investigation utilizing surveillance footage, cell phone evidence, and witness statements led authorities to identify Pagan and Lopez as the individuals responsible for Franco's death. Reymond Pagan was apprehended on December 3, 2015, and was subsequently charged with felony murder, armed robbery, and weapons offenses. His accomplice, Samuel Lopez, was captured by U.S. Marshals in Florida on December 10, 2015.
Both men were convicted for their roles in the fatal robbery. In November 2017, Samuel Lopez was sentenced to 45 years in prison. The following year, in June 2018, Reymond Pagan received a 50-year prison sentence for the murder of Jose Franco. Tragically, this was the second son the Franco family had lost to violence in the same area; Jose's brother had been fatally shot four years earlier.
