Suspect in rape-slay of young girl charged

THE accused in the rape-slay of the six-yearold girl, whose body was found in a vacant lot in Barangay Angliongto last week, will no longer be released from jail and have to face the charges filed against him in court, the Davao City Prosecution Office (CPO) said.

City assistant prosecutor Imee M. Bisera-Mabale told Sun.Star Davao that the accused, Edgar Joseph Lucero, is already charged with rape with homicide.

Mabale said the motion to release the accused filed by a lawyer from the Public Attorney's Office (PAO), who assisted the accused, has been denied.

"The prosecutor assigned to this case already found probable cause to charge the accused. It was also found that the arrest of the accused is valid," Mabale said.

She added that the arrest of the accused, according to the prosecutor assigned on the case, is valid because it was actually based on the personal knowledge of the police investigators.

Mabale said prior to the arrest of the accused, the police investigators were able to gather information regarding the identity of the perpetrator, which is Lucero.

The resolution of the case was released Tuesday afternoon. It said that Lucero will have to go through trial in court for the charges filed against him.

Lucero was arrested at 3 p.m. in Barangay Ubalde, Agdao District on May 17. He was seen in a closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage accompanying the girl and was pointed to by witnesses as the man who last seen with the girl. ICT