Man wanted for killing his ex-girlfriend and leaving her body in a shallow grave in Northeast Philly is apprehended in New York
Geovanni Otero was arrested after allegedly driving a stolen car.
New York State Police took into custody a man wanted for the November kidnapping and brutal homicide of his ex-girlfriend in Northeast Philadelphia, after two troopers attempted to stop the driver of an allegedly stolen vehicle in Westchester County on Saturday, police said.
The driver, Geovanni Otero, was wanted in the killing of Melody Rivera, a 29-year old mother of one who went missing at the beginning of November. Her family and law enforcement officers searched for her for a week before police found her remains, covered with twigs and leaves in a shallow grave near Pennypack Park. The medical examiner’s office determined she had been bludgeoned to death. Otero was charged with homicide and other offenses.
The city of Philadelphia and U.S. marshals had offered a combined $25,000 reward for tips that led to Otero’s capture.
“He has been apprehended. That’s the peace my family needed,” said Martha Fred, Rivera’s sister, on Sunday, adding that after getting the call from U.S. Marshals that Otero had been arrested, she got on her knees and prayed to God.
Fred said Otero was captured three months to the day since the family laid Rivera to rest.
Law enforcement told Fred that Otero had been staying in homeless shelters in Virginia, she said, before attempting to flee to New York in a stolen car.
On Saturday, two New York State troopers attempted to stop a vehicle that had been reported stolen in Virginia, according to a statement from New York State Police. At first the driver complied, but he then sped away, launching a brief high-speed chase before crashing the car a minute later, police said.
Otero then tried to run away on foot, but police arrested him and transported him to Westchester Medical Center to be treated for minor injuries from the crash. He initially offered false identification, police said, but a fingerprint analysis identified him as Geovanni Otero, of Hunting Park.
He is now in custody and awaiting arraignment, New York State Police said.
Fred described her family as “overjoyed” about Otero’s capture, but said the pain from Rivera’s death had only just begun.
“The reality sinks in, that life does have to continue without her,” Fred said. “We went through our holidays without her ... He took away a loving mother, a loyal sister, a caring friend.”