- Lehigh County authorities charged a 21-year-old Allentown man with criminal homicide in the shooting death of Sian Cartagena, 18
- Cartagena’s death is the 16th homicide in Allentown this year and the second in less than two weeks
- Ethan Bastien is being held at Lehigh County Jail without the possibility of parole, court records show
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A 21-year-old man is facing a homicide charge after a woman he was accused of shooting earlier this month died days later, according to authorities.
Ethan Nicholas Bastien, of Allentown, was arrested Oct. 2 and charged with attempted homicide after police said he shot 18-year-old Sian Cartagena that morning at a home in the 2000 block of West Green Street.
Allentown police who responded to the home around 5:30 a.m. Oct. 2 found Cartagena with life-threatening injuries in a second-floor bedroom, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said Tuesday in a release.
She was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, where she died two days later, Lehigh County Coroner Daniel Buglio said.
The attempted-homicide charge against Bastien was then upgraded to criminal homicide.
“I want to give her the best service and arrangements, because my baby didn’t deserve this cruel and inhumane act to have taken her life away."Dolores Cartagena, mother
Bastien told a 911 dispatcher in the wake of the shooting that Cartagena shot herself, Martin said.
He is being held at Lehigh County Jail without the possibility of parole, court records show. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 20.
‘So many goals, dreams’
Cartagena, who turned 18 in mid-August, “had so many goals, dreams and plans for herself and her future, just stepping into becoming a young adult,” her mother wrote on a GoFundMe page to help cover funeral costs.
“I want to give her the best service and arrangements, because my baby didn’t deserve this cruel and inhumane act to have taken her life away,” Dolores Cartagena wrote.
Cartagena was the oldest of five children. Her death is the 16th homicide in Allentown this year and the second in less than two weeks.
Giselle Trabal, 35, was fatally shot Sept. 29 at an apartment in the 600 block of North Law Street, authorities said.
Trabal died at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest “after a few hours of fighting for her life,” her brother, John Trabal, wrote on a GoFundMe page to support her family.
Obadiah Whack, 29, of Allentown, was charged with criminal homicide and gun-related crimes stemming from Trabal's death, Martin said.
Authorities allege Whack shot and killed Trabal through her front door. Whack has been in Lehigh County Jail since Oct. 4 without the possibility of bail, according to court records.
