Attorney: Don’t try client in adult court
Teen charged with two others in killing of Whitehall High student
Christopher Nieves, one of the teens charged in the homicide of Whitehall High School student Aiden Toussaint, was still bleeding from a cut on his face, evidence of the violence from only hours before, when Bethlehem police took him into custody on the morning of Sept. 30.
John Waldron, the attorney for 16-yearold Nieves, said the boy’s family is reeling from the serious charges filed in the case, including homicide, robbery and conspiracy. Waldron said his client has no criminal past and he said he will fight to have the charges sent to juvenile court as the case moves forward.
Nieves was charged along with Isaac Bringuez, also 16 and also from Bethlehem, and Gabriel Ramos, 18, of Lehighton, in the alleged robbery and killing of Toussaint, 17. Authorities say the trio planned to rob him during a marijuana sale the night of Sept. 29 at Saucon Park, but the plan went awry and Toussaint was shot to death.
“He had never been in trouble before,” Waldron said, describing Nieves. “He was a football player and wrestler at Freedom High School. He’s from a good family.”
Nieves’ mother told police that he came home late Sept. 29 and went straight upstairs to his room, court records say. She later found blood in the bathroom sink, according to authorities.
Waldron said police found Nieves with an injury to the left side of his face requiring treatment. It was, according toWaldron, the result of being hit with a BB gun wielded by Toussaint during
a fight that broke out during the alleged robbery.
He described Nieves’ mother as “devastated” by the arrest and the fact that her son is in prison without bail because of the seriousness of the charges.
“She was just torn apart,” Waldron said. “This is not something that is a normalcy in her family.”
Nieves’ age, his lack of a criminal past and the fact that he was not the one who allegedly fired the gun that killed Toussaint are all reasons that Waldron believes his client’s case should move through the more rehabilitative juvenile justice system.
But Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck said he would fight any such efforts.
“We are going to fight any kind of chance for this to go to juvenile court,” Houck said. “These are adult crimes that will go through adult court.”
A message left with Joshua Karoly, the attorney representing Ramos, was not returned. Bringuez does not yet have an attorney listed in online court records. All three defendants are being held without bail. According to court records: Ramos, Nieves and Bringuez decided to rob Toussaint after arranging to buy marijuana at Saucon Park in Bethlehem. They brought another individual with them and a female drove them there. Neither of these two have been charged in the crime and their ages were not revealed in court documents. Houck indicated the involvement of these individuals remains under investigation.
Toussaint came to Saucon Park with his 19-year-old girlfriend, whom the Morning Call is not identifying, and 16-yearold brother, whom police did not name.
Bringuez talked with Toussaint through SnapChat and told him he wanted to buy a quarter pound of marijuana worth $700.
Bringuez told police he stole $700 from his grandmother for the purchase.
Once in the park, the two groups got together in Toussaint’s girlfriend’s car. Ramos and Nieves got in with Toussaint, his girlfriend and his brother. Bringuez and the other man stood outside the car.
Bringuez said at some point there was a “scuffle inside the vehicle.” He said he saw Toussaint pull out a gun, later identified as BB gun, and then noticed Ramos lift a pistol with a red laser from his waist band.
Toussaint’s brother later told police that he saw one of the teens in the car flash a firearm and then someone punched him in the face. Nieves and Ramos got out of the car and took off toward their car.
Toussaint chased after them, his brother said, screaming about the money and firing a BB gun.
The female driver of the other car started fighting with Toussaint. Toussaint’s girlfriend and brother ran to help, urging Toussaint to come back to the car. Toussaint’s brother said he saw a red laser cross over his chest and settle on his brother.
The witnesses recall the sound of gunshots, and the girlfriend described seeing Toussaint collapse into a puddle of water from the pouring rain.
They helped the wounded 17-year-old into the car and drove toward the hospital, flagging down Bethlehem police at East Fourth Street and Lynn Avenue for help.
Police investigating the crime scene near Norwood Street and Dearborn Avenue said they found parts of a BB gun, blood, a folding knife, a sandwich bag of suspected marijuana, two .380-caliber casings and an e-cigarette. Inthe girlfriend’s car, police say, they found more bags of suspected marijuana.