Man accused in double-murder no stranger to violence
NORRISTOWN » The Norristown man accused of fatally shooting two men in a car earlier this week is no stranger to violence and was recently released from prison where he served time for a 2015 stabbing in the borough.
Miguel Mino-Rojas, 20, most recently of the 400 block of Tremont Avenue, was paroled from state prison on Sept. 8, 2017, according to Pennsylvania Department of Corrections officials.
Less than six months later, Mino-Rojas is facing new charges of first-, second- and third-degree murder, person not to possess a firearm and possessing an instrument of crime in connection with the 12:12 a.m. Feb. 26 shooting deaths of Isaias Martinez, 53, and Guillermo Rivera-Rubio, 44, in the 700 block of Chain Street. MinoRojas reportedly told detectives the shooting occurred during a botched drug deal.
But the alleged doublehomicide was not Mino-Rojas’ first run-in with law enforcement.
On Aug. 11, 2016, MinoRojas, then of the 1200 block of Powell Street, was sentenced in county court to 18-to-36-months in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with a Nov. 21, 2015, incident during which he stabbed and seriously injured another man after a fight in the 200 block of East Jacoby Street.
Under a plea agreement accepted by Judge Gail A. Weilheimer at that time, Mino-Rojas also had to complete four years’ probation following parole, meaning he was to remain under court supervision until 2022.
That means Mino-Rojas was still serving his parole and probationary periods when during the early morning hours of Feb. 26 he allegedly gunned down Martinez and Rivera-Rubio.
According to court documents, the 2015 incident occurred about 10:52 p.m.
outside the Washington Carver Center at 249 East Jacoby Street. A West Lafayette Street man who sustained several stab wounds to his stomach, back and head told arriving officers that it was Mino-Rojas who stabbed him. The victim’s mother, who was stabbed in the arm while trying to defend her son, also identified Mino-Rojas as the attacker, according to a criminal complaint filed at the time.
Witnesses told detectives that Mino-Rojas, then 18, and the victim were in rival gangs.
At the time of his most recent arrest Mino-Rojas sported teardrop tattoos under his eyes and the phrase “No Love” tattooed on his forehead.
The investigation into Mino-Rojas’ latest crime began about 12:12 a.m. Feb. 26 when Norristown police responded to the 700 block of Chain Street for reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers discovered Martinez and Rivera-Rubio, both shot in the head, inside a Blue Dodge Neon.
Martinez, the driver, was pronounced dead at the scene while Rivera-Rubio, who was in the passenger’s seat, was transported to Einstein Medical Center Montgomery where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Police processing the scene found a clear plastic bag containing white powder in the street near the passenger’s side of the vehicle but no shell casings were recovered. A witness told investigators two men fled the area after the shooting.
Investigators subsequently utilized footage from nearby security cameras to track two males leaving the area around that time. The footage showed the men running west on Elm Street, before splitting up, with one heading north at George Street.
A borough police sergeant recognized one of the men from an earlier encounter in the 800 block of Kohn Street and after the man’s identity was confirmed, a search warrant was obtained for that address on Feb. 26.
When officers arrived to serve the warrant, they encountered Mino-Rojas. Upon seeing police, MinoRojas allegedly threw a handgun from a third story window into a neighboring yard, according to the arrest affidavit.
Police recovered the gun, a .45-caliber Pietta Colt revolver, which was consistent with the type of weapon that fired a projectile found in Martinez’s body.
Mino-Rojas was taken into custody and while being questioned by detectives, he allegedly admitted to shooting Martinez and Rivera-Rubio. Mino-Rojas told detectives he and an associate went to Chain Street to buy cocaine and that he was armed with the same revolver that was eventually recovered by authorities.
When the alleged dealers arrived, Mino-Rojas said he approached the passenger’s side of a car occupied by two men, according to court documents.
“During the transaction, Rojas said he leaned inside the car. That that time, Rojas said the passenger reached for ‘something’ and that is when Rojas pulled his gun out from his right side and fired two shots into the car,” Montgomery County Detective Michael Crescitelli and Norristown Detective Corporal James Angelucci alleged in the arrest affidavit.
Mino-Rojas allegedly told detectives he fled the scene via adjacent alleys after trying unsuccessfully to smash the car’s driver’s side window.
Mino-Rojas remains in the county jail without bail awaiting his March 11 preliminary hearing on the double-homicide charges before District Court Judge Greg Scott.