WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — A second person has pleaded guilty in the fatal shooting of a man in a parking lot off MacArthur Road last December, officials said.
Liz Marie Pacheco, 38, of Allentown, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for her part in the Dec. 7 shooting death of Hector Manuel Garcia Gomez, 46, of Palmerton, Carbon County.
Pacheco was sentenced to five to 10 years in state prison in a deal negotiated with prosecutors that "noted her lack of a past criminal record and cooperation in" the investigation.Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan, in a release
Pacheco was sentenced to five to 10 years in state prison in a deal negotiated with prosecutors that "noted her lack of a past criminal record and cooperation in" the investigation, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan said in a release.
Charges of homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, aggravated assault-attempting to cause serious bodily injury and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault — all first-degree felonies — were dismissed in the deal.
Pacheco was sentenced by county Judge Robert L. Steinberg.
Garcia Gomez's wife, Brenda Rodriguez, 52, of Palmerton, pleaded guilty last month to a felony charge of conspiracy–aggravated assault after a charge of criminal solicitation/criminal homicide was withdrawn in an agreement.
Rodriguez is scheduled to be sentenced at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 5 and could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, Holihan said.
Hector Garcia Gomez was shot and killed shortly after 6 p.m. last Dec. 7 in the parking lot of Loco Hot Deals at 1155 MacArthur Road.
Christian Martinez-Ramos, 36, of Palmerton, is awaiting trial in the shooting.
Death ruled a homicide
Officers found Garcia Gomez with multiple gunshot wounds to his abdomen and he later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead of multiple gunshot wounds.
The Lehigh County coroner ruled his death a homicide.
Police said Pacheco lived with Martinez-Ramos.
Rodriguez told police her husband was having an affair with Martinez-Ramos's and Pacheco's neighbor, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in the case.
"As Garcia Gomez left the store and began to get inside his car, Martinez-Ramos' vehicle parked behind him and multiple gunshots were fired at Garcia Gomez from inside the suspect vehicle."Affidavit of probable cause
"As Garcia Gomez left the store and began to get inside his car, Martinez-Ramos' vehicle parked behind him and multiple gunshots were fired at Garcia Gomez from inside the suspect vehicle," according to the affidavit.
"As Garcia Gomez left the store and began to get inside his car, Martinez-Ramos' vehicle parked behind him and multiple gunshots were fired at Garcia Gomez from inside the suspect vehicle."
The affidavit said video surveillance showed Garcia Gomez’s vehicle arriving at the store.
Garcia Gomez went into the store for several minutes as Rodriguez stayed inside the car and called Pacheco, authorities said.
Martinez-Ramos’s vehicle pulled into the parking lot three minutes after Rodriguez called Pacheco, court documents state.
As Garcia Gomez left the store and began to get inside his car, Martinez-Ramos' vehicle parked behind him and multiple gunshots were fired at Garcia Gomez from inside the suspect vehicle, Holihan said.
'He is a dead man!'
The suspect vehicle fled, but the license plate on the vehicle was obtained by a license plate reader and came back to a different vehicle owned by Martinez-Ramos, according to a news release.
Rodriguez remained in the car for nearly a half-minute after her husband ran into the Loco Hot Deals store after being shot, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
"This is going to get worse — [Garcia Gomez] is a dead man!"Liz Marie Pacheco said, according to court documents
When Rodriguez got out of the vehicle, she fixed her clothing and hair, picked up her husband's dropped items, then "at a slow to normal walking pace" followed her husband inside, court documents state.
Garcia Gomez and Martinez-Ramos fought outside a Whitehall Township AutoZone on Dec. 4, three days before the shooting, court documents state.
Pacheco that day warned the woman with whom Garcia Gomez was having an affair that Martinez-Ramos was extremely angry.
"This is going to get worse — [Garcia Gomez] is a dead man!" Pacheco said, according to court documents.
'Flores para los muertos'
Rodriguez also told police that Martinez-Ramos assaulted her husband in October.
Police pulled messages from September through Dec. 7 from Pacheco's cellphone.
Text records show that on Oct. 7, Rodriguez contacted Pacheco in an attempt to set up a confrontation between her husband and Martinez-Ramos.
Police recovered more than 2,000 deleted text messages between Pacheco and Martinez-Ramos.
After the Dec. 4 altercation at AutoZone, Pacheco told Martinez-Ramos three times that "he needs to kill" Garcia Gomez, court documents state.
Multiple messages between them included Garcia Gomez's location and information about his vehicle and companions.
Less than eight hours before the shooting, Pacheco posted a photo on her WhatsApp account showing a bouquet of flowers beside Martinez-Ramos's Glock 19 handgun and a caption reading, "Flores para los muertos."
Martinez-Ramos told police he used that weapon to kill Garcia Gomez.
