Man pleads guilty in fatal shooting at Trout Creek Park

Allentown resident fired weapon during argument over crash

An Allentown man who fled to Puerto Rico after fatally shooting another motorist during an argument over a fender-bender pleaded guilty Monday to third-degree murder.

Kenith Otero-Ruiz, 23, of the 1100 block of West Union Street admitted shooting Jose Melendez, 27, at Trout Creek Park after Otero-Ruiz rearended Melendez’s car July 4, 2020. He also pleaded guilty to related crimes, including the burglary of a grocery store where he stole the murder weapon in addition to thousands of dollars in cash, cigarettes and baby formula, possessing a gun without a license and fleeing from police.

Under a plea agreement negotiated between OteroRuiz and prosecutors, he could face as long as 64 years in prison when he is sentenced July 18.

Law enforcement in Puerto Rico apprehended Otero-Ruiz 10 days after the killing.

Several videos taken by bystanders and cameras on a LANTA bus showed the shooting, Otero-Ruiz and his girlfriend fleeing in his heavily damaged car and arriving at the home where he lived with his girlfriend and his mother, prosecutors said.

There is video of the crash that led to the altercation between Otero-Ruiz and Melendez, who prosecutors said knew each other through a car club. A cellphone video shows Otero-Ruiz firing a gun several times and then driving away. Video from a bus shows a near-collision with OteroRuiz as he left the park and another shows him arriving at his home.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Burd said Monday the bus video allowed investigators to get a license plate number and vehicle records that led them to Otero-Ruiz’s home. When his mother consented to a search of the apartment, police found a gun and ammunition matching the spent casings found at the shooting scene and OteroRuiz’s Toyota in the garage.

The owner of the gun still had the original packaging with a spent cartridge casing from a test firing that matched the markings on casings from the shooting scene, linking Otero-Ruiz to the grocery store burglary, Burd said.

Assistant Public Defender Earl Supplee, who represents Otero-Ruiz, did not return a call for comment.