TARGETED FAMILY Mark Joseph Reyes and his mother Jasmin—son and wife of alleged car theft ring leader Mark Lester “Mac” Reyes—lie dead in a taxicab Tuesday after being ambushed minutes after leaving the Quezon City Hall of Justice, where the young Reyes was on trial also for car theft. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines—Suspected car theft syndicate leader Mark Lester Reyes’ wife and teenage son, who were shot dead by motorcycle-riding men shortly before noon Tuesday, had already sensed they were in danger several minutes before the daylight ambush in Quezon City.
A police investigator said that 19-year-old Mark Joseph Reyes and his 37-year-old mother Jasmin had left the Quezon City hall of justice in haste, apparently spooked by someone they saw at the building.
Insp. Elmer Monsalve, homicide section head of the Quezon City Police District Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU) told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that no wallet nor mobile phone was recovered from the victims’ bodies because Jasmin had left her shoulder bag behind.
“She (Jasmin) could have seen someone she knew could harm her and her son at the Hall of Justice and was too much in a hurry that she forgot her bag,” Monsalve explained, adding that the victims’ mobile phones and wallets were in the bag.
The homicide section chief said that the woman in the Valentino taxi with the Reyeses had gotten off at the Kalayaan Avenue gate 7 of the Quezon City Hall compound because Jasmin had asked her to fetch the shoulder bag she had left behind.
Monsalve said that Jasmin’s female cousin, who returned for the forgotten bag, had given her sworn statement to the police after confirming the victims’ identities.
According to the police investigator, “She (witness) said that when Jasmin asked her to return for the bag, she said they would just meet up in Monumento, Caloocan City. Apart from that, the witness denied any knowledge of who Jasmin and her son could have been running away from.”
Monsalve said that Valentino taxi driver Jaime Bobis Jr had confirmed the short conversation between Jasmin and her cousin. He also heard Jasmin ask her son if he had some money on him after the other passenger got off.
The homicide section chief told the INQUIRER that identifying who the victims were running away from would solve the killing and theorized that it could have something to do with their suspected involvement in a string of car theft cases.
He added that they have been searching for other witnesses who could have seen and possibly describe the gunmen, particularly the driver of a dump truck who had honked his horn at the gunmen whose motorcycle had obstructed one of the inner lanes of Elliptical Road.
On Tuesday, two men on a motorcycle shot dead the Reyeses who were then passengers of a Valentino taxi. Mother and son had just attended a hearing at the Quezon City regional trial court branch 94 from where they were tailed by the gunmen.
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