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Suspect arrested
FOX 5 NY's Briella Tomassetti has the story.
NEW YORK CITY - The NYPD has arrested a third suspect wanted in connection to the deaths of two men found drugged after leaving gay bars in Hell’s Kitchen.
Jayqwan Hamilton, 35, seen donning a face mask, orange hoodie and a jacket, was completely silent as he was led out of the 7th precinct by police in handcuffs.
Jayqwan Hamilton faces one count of murder, robbery and grand larceny charges.
According to police, Hamilton is the third suspect to be placed under arrest and linked to the murders.
He was picked up Monday around 7:30 p.m. on Bridge Street in Brooklyn. He faces one count of murder, robbery and grand larceny charges. He’s also being charged with conspiracy and ID theft.
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Two other alleged accomplices, Jacob Barroso, 30, and Robert Demaio, 34, were arraigned earlier this month on similar charges.
Police said the three suspects drugged their victims and wiped their bank accounts after using facial recognition technology on the victims’ iPhones.
By the end of March, police had linked dozens of druggings, including seven fatal overdoses, to two separate robbery patterns in and around Manhattan nightclubs.
The NYPD said the three suspects drugged their victims and wiped their bank accounts after using facial recognition technology on the victims’ iPhones.
The deaths of two victims, John Umberger and Julio Ramirez, were only ruled homicides recently. They were previously suspected to be overdoses.
Last spring, police said the 25-year-old Ramirez left The Ritz in Hell's Kitchen with a group of men. He was given a lethal cocktail of drugs, robbed and then left to die in the back of a taxi.
Julio Ramirez.
A month later, the 33-year-old Umberger was fatally drugged and robbed after leaving another gay club, just a few blocks away from The Ritz.
Umberger was a political consultant from Washington D.C., who was found in the Upper East Side townhouse where he had been staying.
John Umberger. (Linda Clary)
According to the city medical examiner, both batches of drugs were laced with fentanyl.