‘You ended a very important life’

Judge hands down 25- to 50-year term in alcohol-fueled shooting

Angel M. Cruz said he polished off two bottles of Hennessy and about eight beers while playing dominoes early one morning in November 2017, and the last thing he remembered before blacking out was that his ex-girlfriend had thrown his clothes out of their Tilghman Street home.

During that time he claims he couldn’t remember, Allentown police say Cruz pulled out a .45-caliber gun and shot and killed 39-year-old Dagmary Baez-Arocho and then turned the gun on her 17-yearold daughter.

Two months ago, Cruz admitted to the shooting, pleading guilty to third-degree murder and aggravated assault. On Thursday, Lehigh County Judge Maria L. Dantos sentenced him to 25 to 50 years in state prison.

“You ended a very important life,” Dantos said, describing the mother of four who died in the alcohol-fueled shooting on Nov. 6, 2017.

Allentown police had said Cruz and Baez-Arocho were drinking and arguing while playing dominoes in the 900 block of Tilghman Street. When she demanded he leave the home, Cruz pulled the gun and started firing.

Two of the victim’s daughters, including the one who was shot that night, tearfully testified Thursday, telling the judge about the night their lives changed forever and describing a mother who was also

like their best friend.

Elenaliz Cardona, who is now 18, suffered internal injuries after she was shot. She was home with her younger sister and brother when gunfire erupted.

She said her mother and Cruz had already ended their relationship and all his clothes were in plastic bins on the front porch ready for him to take them.

She said Cruz was next to the doorway when he slapped her mother, knocking her to the floor. Cardona said she slapped him back to help her mother.

“When I saw that she couldn’t defend herself, that’s when I reacted,” she said.

The dispute carried into the living room, where Cruz pulled a gun and “that’s when he started shooting my mom,” Cardona said.

At first, Cardona said she froze as the gunshots rang out. She later tried to hide by a sofa, where Cruz turned the gun on her.

Remembering her mother Thursday, she called her “a phenomenal role model of what I want to be.”

Since the shooting, Cardona said she has graduated from high school. She said she and her siblings now live with their father.

“We hope she is watching over us and we want to make her proud,” Cardona said.

Cruz fled the scene of the shooting but surrendered to authorities two hours later and led police to the gun used in the crime.

While Cruz claimed in court that he didn’t remember everything that happened that night, Allentown police Detective John Brixius testified Cruz didn’t have the same memory loss when he was questioned.

At Thursday’s sentencing, Cruz said Baez-Arocho hit him in the head with a bottle that night, but Brixius said he never mentioned that during a police interview.

Jack McMahon, who represented Cruz, said his client was a heavy drinker and his relationship with Baez-Arocho had a dynamic that centered around alcohol. What made the crime particularly unusual, he added, is that Cruz has almost no criminal history.

“I think he was so drunk that there are some things from that night that will never come to him,” McMahon said.

Before handing down the sentence, Dantos questioned Cruz why he had a gun, considering his problems with alcohol.

Cruz had said he feared Baez-Arocho’s former boyfriend, but on Thursday Cruz said he has no enemies and has it just because he lives in the city.

Dantos responded, “I’m no genius, but alcohol and guns don’t mix.”

“We hope she is watching over us and we want to make her proud.” — Elenaliz Cardona, daughter of shooting victim Dagmary Baez-Arocho