Laborer arrested over Candoni teen slay

By Glazyl M. Jopson

BACOLOD CITY — Police arrested a 41-year-old laborer May 1 for alleged gunrunning before he later confessed to killing his 13-year-old neighbor in Barangay Poblacion West, Candoni, Negros Occidental, on April 27.

Police Capt. Leonel Adolacion, chief of the Candoni Municipal Police Station, said police acted on reports against the suspect, known only as Kadong, for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

The reports prompted police to conduct a buy-bust operation.

Police said the suspect allegedly sold a homemade .38-caliber revolver to an undercover police officer.

Recovered during the operation were the revolver, two rounds of ammunition, and PHP 1,500 in marked money.

During the investigation, Adolacion said the suspect told barangay officials about an incident that led to the death of Rica Grace Simple.

Based on the suspect’s confession, Adolacion said the suspect saw the victim in Barangay Haba, Candoni, and offered to take her on his tricycle to a sari-sari store after her mother asked her to buy ice.

Instead of bringing her to the store, the suspect allegedly asked her to perform a sexual act, but she refused.

Adolacion said the victim told the suspect she would tell her parents, prompting him to allegedly choke her and hit her head with a stone before leaving her in a sugarcane field.

Adolacion said there was a possibility that the suspect had taken an interest in the victim and found an opportunity to approach her at the time.

The victim’s family could not believe what happened, as they had known the suspect for a long time.

Adolacion said the suspect claimed he acted alone, but police are still investigating whether others were involved, as they are looking into more than one person of interest.

Although the suspect claimed he did not touch the victim, Adolacion said police could not yet determine whether she had been sexually abused pending autopsy results.

The victim was found dead in a sugarcane field in Barangay Poblacion West on April 27, a day after she was reported missing when she failed to return home on Sunday night, April 26.

Charges for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition will be filed against the suspect Monday, May 4, while murder charges will be processed through regular filing, Adolacion said.

Despite the suspect’s confession, Adolacion said police will follow legal procedures to formalize the admission.