Cedar Street Shooting Suspect Court Hearing Held
Alvarez
The preliminary hearing for Jonathan Alvarez, aka 'Psycho', was held Wednesday afternoon at magistrate Zola's office in Hazleton.
On August 26th 2015, an individual opened fire in the area of Cedar Street, wounding two people and causing damage to property in the area.
Alvarez is suspected of being this individual. (To read the original article on this shooting, click here: http://www.hztn1.com/#!Two-Victims-Shot-Near-BroadCedar-Street-Hazleton/c2207/55de14b70cf29a3653b8f8c7)
Alvarez was taken into custody on August 27th 2015 and was charged with two felony counts of Aggravated Assault, felony Possession Of Firearm, and felony Firearms Not To Be Carried w/o License.
Alvarez claims that he is not guilty. Lawyers defending Alvarez state that Alvarez was not seen or positively identified as the shooter.
A victim in the case, Christian Ashby, testified that he believed that Alvarez had been the shooter, despite not seeing Alvarez.
Ashby based these claims off of a mutual dislike between the two individuals.
Ashby
Ashby also made a brief reference to an incident in July of 2015, stating that Alvarez may have gained motive from that situation.
On July 1st 2015, Alvarez was a gunshot victim in the area of Bennett Court (A block away from the Cedar Street shooting.).
Ashby was charged in relation to the July 1st shooting with a felony count of Firearms Not To Be Carried W/O License. Ashby was not positively identified as the shooter.
Alvarez's defense stated that Alvarez was not found to be in posession of a firearm and Alvarez was not positively identified as the shooter. The Luzerne County District Attorney stated that statements suggested that Alvarez was the shooter, implying that he had posession of a firearm.
Sufficient evidence was found to proceed with a trail for Alvarez in a higher court. Alvarez remains in jail until a Formal Arraignment on January 1st 2016 in leiu of $100,000 bail.
