3 charged in connection with deaths of couple found burned in car

Six people have been charged in connection with the deaths of three people, including a Longwood couple, found burned inside a car in Buffalo, N.Y. last year, and federal prosecutors say three of those charged were directly involved in the deaths.

Jariel Cobb, James Reed, Jahaan McDuffie, Destenee Bell, Deandre Wilson and Deshema Clark were indicted on 24 counts including murder, narcotics conspiracy, conspiracy to commit robbery and obstruction of justice, according to federal prosecutors.

During a string of crimes from 2014 to September 2019, the group sold heroin, cocaine, marijuana and fentanyl in the Buffalo area, maintaining several drug trafficking houses, prosecutors said.

They allege between Sept. 15 and 16, Cobb, 47, and Wilson, 49, shot and killed Miguel ValentinColon, Nicole Merced-Plaud and Dhamyl Roman-Audiffred, burned their bodies and stole their belongings, including a

Chrysler Pacifica.

Reed, 38, was charged with obstruction of justice alongside Cobb and Wilson for mutilating and burning Roman-Audiffred’s body. Valentin-Colon, 31, and Merced-Plaud, 24, drove from Orlando to Buffalo in the rented Pacifica with their 3-year-old son Noelvin and 29-year-old family friend Roman-Audiffred in September.

The three adults’ bodies were found burned in the van, and the child was found unharmed on the porch of a nearby house. He is now living with his grandmother, Zenaida Colon, Buffalo news station WIVB-TV reports.

The six suspects have been in custody since late last year.

James Kennedy Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, said the Department of Justice is reviewing the case to determine if the Attorney General will seek the death penalty against Cobb and Wilson.