A day after promising to solve the case, national police chief Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar announced on Sunday, May 23, the arrest of three people tagged in the brutal killing of transman Ebeng Mayor in Quezon City.
He identified those arrested as Zander dela Cruz, Joel Loyola and Richard Araza. All of them were already charged with rape with homicide and robbery before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.
“I am happy to announce that we have arrested and formally charged in the Prosecutor’s Office three suspects in the brutal killing of 21-year-old trans man Ebeng Mayor. The PNP has kept its promise to Ebeng’s family and solved this atrocious crime,” said Eleazar in a statement.
The cadaver was discovered in a vacant lot at Sitio Bakal, Barangay Bagong Silangan, Quezon City three days after Mayor was reported missing. Mayor was brutally killed as indicated by the injuries that were seen in the cadaver.
The brutal killing of Mayor sparked outrage and condemnation especially from the LGBTQ community which considered the incident as a hate crime.
“From the time that Mayor’s body was found, our police investigators wasted no time in piecing together clues to identify the victim’s killers. Two hours after Mayor’s body was discovered, the QCPD-CIDU (Quezon City Police District-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit) already had a lead, the uneasiness and discomfort displayed by one of the victim’s childhood friends who later on confessed to the crime and named his cohorts,” said Eleazar.
He was referring to dela Cruz who is a childhood friend of Mayor.
The QCPD then made quick work of rounding up all three suspects. An additional complaint of Violation of RA 10591 (Illegal Possession of Firearms and Ammunition) was filed against Loyola.
“To the family of Ebeng, I know that we cannot bring her back but with the PNP’s kept promise of bringing their killers to justice, we hope that this somehow lessens the pain of your loss,” said Eleazar.
Eleazar met with Ebeng’s family at the QCPD headquarters at Camp Karingal in Quezon City.