Warrant reveals information in deaths
Search warrants revealed more information in the homicide deaths of two New Philadelphia teenagers.
State police requested seven warrants to glean evidence in the deaths of Hunter Mock, 18, and Angelito Caraballo, 16, whose bodies were found in a wooded area along Ferndale Road, about a mile from Route 209, early on Oct. 10.
The probable cause affidavits attached to the warrants state two other men were with the teens on the night of Oct. 8.
They were hanging out at an old mining area, known as “The Sanchez,” when one of the men pulled out a gun and began firing, court papers said.
One of the two men was arrested following the teens’ deaths on unrelated burglary charges and is lodged in the Schuylkill County prison. Neither has been charged in the homicide investigation.
Troopers first responded to New Philadelphia before midnight on Oct. 8 when a couple said a man was knocking on their front door asking for help. They did not answer the door.
The man was soaking wet with ripped sweatpants, no shoes and was visibly shaking from the cold, court papers said. He told police he fled when the gun came out, swimming through a body of water where they were and then running for 25 or 30 minutes.
He told police he heard 10 to 20 shots, and Caraballo yelling, “Stop,” and he did not know what happened to the teens.
State police received missing persons’ reports for the teens the following day, and their bodies were found at 3:25 a.m. Oct. 10 by a friend who was out looking for them.
Schuylkill County Deputy Coroner Albert Barnes pronounced the teens dead at 6:03 a.m. Mock suffered a gunshot wound to the head, and Caraballo suffered several puncture wounds/lacerations, causing his death, court papers said.
The man who fled positively identified the man who he said began firing the gun, and the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force took him into custody the night of Oct. 10 at a home in Wright Township, Luzerne County, on the burglary charges.
The man in custody told police he picked up the other man, and then the teens in New Philadelphia. He did not know Caraballo was coming along and they all agreed to go shooting, court papers said.
The man further told police that he, the other man and the teens all took turns firing the gun. But he stated the other man shot Mock in the head and dropped the weapon, telling him to get the other teen, Caraballo, court papers said.
The man in custody claimed he attempted to fire the gun at Caraballo, but it wouldn’t fire, court papers said. A scuffle ensued among the three of them, and he lost sight of the other man and Caraballo, he told investigators.
A friend of those involved told state police that Mock had a “ghost gun” with a red light and a long magazine, and she was aware the teens were going to go to the Sanchez to go shooting that night.
In the search warrants, state police sought evidence, including guns, other weapons and clothing, from a vehicle they believe was driven the night of the homicides, a white Dodge Journey SUV, and a home in Port Carbon associated with the family of one of the men.
Troopers also sought a DNA swab from both men present the night of the murders, as well as photographs of their bodies, court papers said. They also requested medical records from Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill in Pottsville from the man who fled.
Warrants also seek data from cellphones recovered from the scene, including Mock’s phone.