Jose DeJesus

Background

Jose DeJesus was convicted of first-degree murder in July 1998 for the 1997 shooting of 26-year-old Carlos Martinez. DeJesus had an ongoing dispute with a man known as “Capone” in June 1997. Police described DeJesus as a hit man for a North Philadelphia drug mob.

The offence

On June 19, 1997, Capone and several acquaintances allegedly opened fire with firearms on DeJesus’s house in Philadelphia.

Sometime before 8:00 p.m. on June 20, 1997, DeJesus noticed a man who looked very much like Capone and was wearing a bandana on his head, driving a new, blue Toyota Corolla that DeJesus knew to be owned by Capone in and around DeJesus’s neighborhood.

At around 8:00 p.m., after observing the Toyota driving in his neighborhood, DeJesus entered a light-colored station wagon parked in front of his house and exited carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. DeJesus then went into an abandoned house at 2913 Palethorp and ascended to the roof of the building.

About a minute later, the Toyota Corolla rounded the corner of Cambria and Palethorp Streets and began traveling on Palethorp, past the abandoned building. DeJesus opened fire on the vehicle and its driver, strafing the rifle from side to side and spraying bullets up and down Palethorp Street.

Unbeknownst to DeJesus, Capone was not in the Toyota Corolla. Instead, the car was being driven by Carlos Martinez, to whom Capone had apparently sold the car that very day.

Six of DeJesus’s shots shattered the car’s windows, and one shot struck Martinez in the back. Martinez eventually died from the wound. After being shot in the back, Martinez attempted to exit the car through the driver’s side window but became too weak and eventually lost consciousness, so that his body was slung partially out of the window with his head almost touching the ground.

While DeJesus was firing, a man who had been washing his car nearby heard the shots, thought the sound was that of firecrackers, and began walking toward the noise. Upon seeing DeJesus firing a rifle onto the street, the man turned and began running in the opposite direction but was struck by:

• one bullet in his left calf,
• two bullets in his left buttock,
• one bullet on the left side of his head.

He continued running towards Cambria Street even after being shot. Both the man at the car wash and the young boy survived their wounds.

At the same time, a fifteen-year-old boy was riding his off-road motorcycle on the street in front of the residence and carrying a three-year-old boy as a passenger. When the older boy heard the gunshots, he was startled and fell while still seated on the bike and holding the child. He covered the child until the gunshots stopped, but when the older boy later returned the child to his mother, it was discovered that the youngster had suffered a gunshot wound to his left knee and one to his left foot.

The trial also described that DeJesus shot Carlos Martinez, 26, to death on June 30, 1997, mistakenly believing he was another man. The same trial account said a 2-year-old boy and a 30-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds during the shooting from the 2nd floor of a house.

Investigation

Philadelphia police officers responded to a radio call regarding the shooting. They found Martinez lying on the ground next to the car and bleeding heavily from the chest. Police transported Martinez to Temple University Hospital in a police cruiser, but Martinez was pronounced dead within a half hour of arriving at the hospital.

An autopsy revealed that a bullet struck Martinez in the back, traveled through his kidney, spleen, stomach, liver, and inferior vena cava, and exited under his ribs on the right side of his abdomen. The cause of death was determined to be the massive bleeding from the wound to the inferior vena cava.

While police investigated, the police recovered sixteen 7.62 x 39 mm cartridge casings from the area in front of the home. All of the casings were determined to have been fired from an AK-47 rifle.

In addition, six bullet holes were discovered in the Toyota Corolla driven by Carlos Martinez: three in the driver’s side of the front hood of the car and three in the roof.

Arrest

After evading police custody for approximately three months, DeJesus was arrested on September 23, 1997. Members of the Philadelphia Police Fugitive Squad surrounded a house where DeJesus had been staying and detained him there.

After his arrest, DeJesus was transported to the police station, where he gave a statement to police.

DeJesus admitted his involvement in the shooting. He explained that Capone had shot at his house the day before and that when he saw the “Capone wagon,” he “lit it up” because he thought Capone “must be coming back again.”

In that statement, DeJesus said: “I saw him firing 6 or 7 shots.” He also told Homicide Detective Michael Walter:

“when he saw a car coming down the street, he thought it contained a man he was gunning for, named ‘Capone,’ so he blasted away.” He said he was sorry he “killed the wrong guy.”

Trial

A Common Pleas jury convicted Jose DeJesus of 1st-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault. The conviction occurred on a date described in the account as “yesterday” relative to a July 3, 1998 newspaper entry.

Assistant District Attorney Carlos Vega said DeJesus shot Carlos Martinez, 26, to death on June 30, 1997, mistakenly believing he was another man.

Common Pleas Judge James A. Lineberger ordered a sentencing hearing for Monday. Vega wanted the jury to return a death sentence. Defense lawyer Joseph Canuso said he would urge the panel to spare his client’s life.

In the trial account, DeJesus was described as awaiting trial for the murders of another man and a pregnant woman, and awaiting a preliminary hearing for a 4th killing. DeJesus did not testify.

McKinley Williams testified that he was washing a car when he heard the shots, and was wounded while running away. Williams identified DeJesus. Williams said:

“I saw him firing 6 or 7 shots,”

Sentencing

The jury was to decide between a death sentence and sparing DeJesus’s life. Jose DeJesus ultimately received a death sentence, with his status described as “Sentenced to death in 1998.”

Outcome

Jose DeJesus was convicted of 1st-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault and was sentenced to death in 1998.

Aftermath

DeJesus was described as having been on the city’s most-wanted list before his capture last Sept. 23.

The man who was wounded while washing his car, McKinley Williams, was treated at the hospital for four gunshot wounds. Doctors removed the bullet from his head while leaving the other bullets for fear of complications. He remained in the hospital for three days.

The young boy who was shot, described as having been 3 years old in one account and as a 2-year-old boy in another, was treated at the hospital for two gunshot wounds and remained there for three weeks.

Other details

DeJesus’s conviction record described his age as 20 and described him as Jose “Little Bert” DeJesus. The account also stated that Jose DeJesus was awaiting trial for the murders of another man and a pregnant woman and awaiting a preliminary hearing for a 4th killing.