Arraignment Set For Camden Man Accused Of Killing Temple Student
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- Courtroom testimony indicates that a Camden man allegedly shot and killed a Temple University student after the victim apparently said a harmless hello to a woman, outside a Philadelphia after-hours club.
His family says 34-year old Alejandro Rojas-Garcia had everything going for him, a father of two, enrolled at Temple majoring in advertising, and out celebrating the night of January 24th after making the honor roll.
But outside a Feltonville after-hours spot, Alex, as he was known, was shot multiple times, while sitting in his vehicle.
The victim's father is Wilfredo Rojas, a South Jersey NAACP official who retired from the Philadelphia Prison System after 25-years.
"We learned about what cold-blooded murder is," he said.
Two witnesses, both of whom testified they feared for their lives and relocated out-of-state four days after they gave statements to detectives, identified 25-year-old Leonaldo Rivera as the shooter. One knew him from the neighborhood and the other from their native Puerto Rico.
Defense attorney Pat Link suggests one of them may have been the shooter, pointing out they went to police 17 days after the murder, only after they saw their images on surveillance video broadcast on Spanish language Telemundo.
"Two polluted sources that went into homicide detectives as suspects, and they come out as key witnesses," Link said.
A judge ordered Rivera held for court, and set arraignment for May 5th.
