ALLENTOWN, Pa. - A Lehigh County jury convicted a 29-year-old Bethlehem man Friday in last year’s deadly shooting on a basketball court at Fountain Park, according to District Attorney Gavin Holihan.
Grelvis Estevez Cabrera was found guilty of first-degree murder and related crimes and faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Police called to the park along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive found the victim, 25-year-old Angel Martinez-Velez, dead of multiple gunshot wounds around 6:30 p.m. on June 1, 2024.
Estevez Cabrera was among three people charged in the killing. He will be formally sentenced before Lehigh County Judge Thomas Caffrey on Nov. 25.
Another defendant, 20-year-old Carlos Nathaniel Landesta-Agramonte, pleaded guilty Monday to third-degree murder and conspiracy to commit third-degree murder. He faces a minimum of up to 40 years in prison and also will be sentenced Nov. 25.
A third man also charged in the investigation is awaiting trial. Wilmer Esquiel Marte-Tavarez, 23, of Lords Valley, Pa., will be formally arraigned on charges Nov. 6.
The night of Martinez-Velez’s killing, witnesses said two vehicles fled Fountain Park.
Police using city cameras were able to track two vehicles speeding together through the streets. They located both vehicles within about two hours parked outside Landesta-Agramonte’s East Court Street address, according to the district attorney’s office.
“Through a review of video surveillance, license plate readers and significant input from witnesses and social media participation, all of these together allowed the investigation to move quickly,” Holihan said.
Both Estevez Cabrera and Landesta-Agramonte were arrested June 5, 2024 – four days after the shooting.
Holihan said the investigation is ongoing. Besides his office and the county’s Homicide Task Force, he said, it involves Allentown police, the Regional Intelligence and Investigation Center and the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office.
