Death in police car for 2 men in girl’s rape, slay

Two suspects in the rape and killing of an eight-year-old girl in Bacoor City, Cavite province, who were allegedly high on drugs when they committed the crime, were killed inside a police car after they tried to grab the guns of their police escorts, according to the chief of the Bacoor police.

Supt. Christopher Olazo, in a phone interview, said Nico Zamora and Rowell dela Cruz were killed after a policeman shot them when they tried to grab the guns of other policemen who were taking them to a hospital.

They were arrested just hours after police found the victim’s body near a river in Barangay Zapote 5. The girl’s face was bloodied and she was confirmed to have been sexually assaulted, Olazo said.

He said a witness identified the suspects as behind the slaying of the girl.

At the police station, Zamora and Dela Cruz named two other suspects, Reynaldo dela Cruz and Jessie Aguilar. All four are residents of Las Piñas City.

“[Zamora and Rowell dela Cruz] were obviously high on drugs when taken to our station,” said Olazo.

“They were then led to [a police] mobile so they could undergo medical checkup in [a local] hospital,” Olazo said.

He said only a pair of handcuffs was used for the suspects. Inside the vehicle, the suspects tried to grab the firearms of their police escorts and grappled with them, prompting another policeman, PO1 Marvin Rae Calaor, to shoot them.

They died while being taken to a local hospital at 10:30 p.m.

Olazo said another team of policemen pursued Reynaldo dela Cruz and Aguilar, who were arrested at 11:55 p.m.

Police, on Thursday, filed charges of rape and murder against the suspects.