BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – A 15-year-old teen got stabbed during a brawl between rival gangs at the Bacolod Government Center (BGC) late Sunday night.
Police identified the fatality as Yeshua John Torres, a Grade 8 student and resident of Purok 4, Barangay 41.
Investigators from Police Station 4 have yet to determine the cause of the brawl, although the cops immediately picked up all of the teens in the area and brought them all to the station for questioning.
The fight also resulted in a passenger jeepney’s windshield getting smashed. Someone threw a large rock at it.
A follow-up operation resulted in the arrest of 21-year-old Jorebel Datulayta, a resident of Purok Pag-asa in the city’s Barangay Alijis.
Some witnesses claimed to the police they saw Datulayta stab Torres with an ice pick.
Datulayta, however, denied any involvement in the stabbing. He said he was at the BGC only to meet up with a cousin.
The police, on the other hand, said it recovered a group chat message sent by the suspect via Facebook Messenger stating, “Diin na kamo? Naka-buno na kami isa ka bilog.” (Where are you guys? We already stabbed one.)
Police Lieutenant Greeky Cayao, deputy station commander of Police Station 4, said prior to Datulayta’s arrest, he also tried to mingle with bystanders but the ploy failed after he was positively identified by at least three witnesses.
Cayao had also confirmed that they have been receiving information about rival groups meeting at the BGC grounds, and these meet ups usually end up in brawls.
He also revealed that when they finally boarded the suspect in the police vehicle, the victim’s group members attempted to seek revenge on the suspect and threw rocks at their vehicle.
Cayao said they will pursue murder charges against Datulayta, who is now detained at their station.
Meanwhile in a separate interview made by a local radio station, the victim’s mother claimed that her son was a friendly individual.
The mother also expressed her anger against the suspect, saying Datulayta must pay with his own life./PN
