Cainta girl’s slay suspects linked to 3 other robs

The three motorcycle-riding men, who fatally shot a one-year-old girl in a robbery in Cainta, Rizal last Sept. 14, are also behind three other robberies in Marikina City, the police said yesterday.

Combined elements of the Cainta and Marikina police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) are now closing in on the killers of one-year-old Erica Charlene Guevarra.

"The suspects were identified through the rogue’s gallery of the Marikina City police. It is only a matter of time before we get them," a police official told The STAR.

The police said the girl’s parents, Erick, 41, and Rosanna, 38, were on their way home to Cainta after withdrawing money from an Equitable PCI Bank branch in Marikina City when the robbers struck.

The robbers fired at the Guevarras’ Toyota Revo and hit the baby girl who was seated on her mother’s lap. It was unclear how much money was taken from the couple.

Based on ballistic tests of the Philippine National Police crime laboratory, the empty shells and slugs found at the scene matched those found in the three Marikina robberies.

In one of the Marikina incidents, last Aug. 15, a businessman, Edward Young, 22, and his driver, Glenn Magbanua, were shot dead.

Young’s wife, Sarah, 21, survived the attack and has identified the attackers of his husband and their driver.

The Youngs were ambushed also after withdrawing money from a bank.

The robbers, however, failed to get the money after residents of the squatters’ area in Barangay Concepcion milled around the ambush site.

"We have lots of leads in these cases, but we cannot reveal them as of now for fear of jeopardizing ongoing follow-up operations," the police official said.

Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, Cainta police chief, said the Guevarras have promised to fully cooperate in the investigation. Their daughter is scheduled to be buried today.

"I cannot divulge the progress of our investigation before Tuesday as requested by the girl’s family," Cruz said. "But I’m assuring you that we are working hard to solve the case."