Spigger Mamacita Killed in Philly
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Xuxa the White
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Arrests Made In Mother's Killing
Family Says Woman Was Trying To Break Up Argument
POSTED: 11:39 pm EDT June 22, 2004
UPDATED: 9:24 pm EDT June 23, 2004
PHILADELPHIA -- Police have made two arrests in a shootout that resulted in a West Kensington mother's death. One person arrested is the victim's brother.
Hispano-Vandal Mother Killed In Group Fight
According to police, Edwin Soto fired several shots and hit several people. Police said some people returned fire and that was when his sister, Bethzaida Diaz, 39, was struck twice. Diaz was the mother of 5 children.
Alexander Rivera, 22, has been charged with the murder of Diaz.
Authorities
said Soto was grazed in the head by a bullet in the shootout. He was questioned Tuesday night by detectives.
According to police, Diaz had tried to intervene in a dispute involving her daughter and h
er brother.
Authorities said it all started shor
tly before 7 p.m. Tuesday, when Diaz's daughter got into an argument with another woman. Investigators said the friends and family of the women came out of their houses and got involved in the dispute.
Soto is facing several charges, including two counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault.
Police expect to make a third arrest shortly.
Police are concerned with retaliation crimes.
"We heard there's information about some kind of retaliation and what we want to try to do is avoid that, and for that reason I've talked to patrol and special patrol and they are going to have additional patrols in that area to make sure that doesn't happen," said Inspector James Boyle, of the Philadelphia Police.
Arrests Made In Mother's Killing
Family Says Woman Was Trying To Break Up Argument
POSTED: 11:39 pm EDT June 22, 2004
UPDATED: 9:24 pm EDT June 23, 2004
PHILADELPHIA -- Police have made two arrests in a shootout that resulted in a West Kensington mother's death. One person arrested is the victim's brother.
Hispano-Vandal Mother Killed In Group Fight
According to police, Edwin Soto fired several shots and hit several people. Police said some people returned fire and that was when his sister, Bethzaida Diaz, 39, was struck twice. Diaz was the mother of 5 children.
Alexander Rivera, 22, has been charged with the murder of Diaz.
Authorities
said Soto was grazed in the head by a bullet in the shootout. He was questioned Tuesday night by detectives.
According to police, Diaz had tried to intervene in a dispute involving her daughter and h
er brother.
Authorities said it all started shor
tly before 7 p.m. Tuesday, when Diaz's daughter got into an argument with another woman. Investigators said the friends and family of the women came out of their houses and got involved in the dispute.
Soto is facing several charges, including two counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault.
Police expect to make a third arrest shortly.
Police are concerned with retaliation crimes.
"We heard there's information about some kind of retaliation and what we want to try to do is avoid that, and for that reason I've talked to patrol and special patrol and they are going to have additional patrols in that area to make sure that doesn't happen," said Inspector James Boyle, of the Philadelphia Police.
Rick Dean
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http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/8998654.htm
Man arrested in mom's slaying :245:
By SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM
weichss@phillynews.com
It started as a girls' fight.
Throw in two men and two guns.
And a West Kensington mother of five who stepped in to quell the neighborhood brawl.
Add in flying bullets, and when it was all over, Bethzaida Soto-Diaz, 39, was lying in a pool of blood,
bullet wound to her face.
Yesterday, the suspected gunman was charged with her murder. Her brother, who police said shot the gunman, was charged with attempted murder.
Now, one of the So
to-Dia
z's daughters, Lily, 21, must live with the fact that her fist-fight with a longtime adversary inadvertently led to her mother's death.
"I am holding up the family," said her other daughter, Ana Diaz, 19. "Everyone is co
llapsing."
Diaz described Tuesday evening as a night that began with a simple scuffle involving her sister and another young woman.
At first the two were fighting over "old stuff," said Diaz, who declined to elaborate. Then the neighborhood men got involved.
Lily Diaz's foe, who neighbors identified as Marielis, is married to a member of a crew of men who hang on Randolph Street near Westmoreland, Diaz said.
After the fight, a friend of Marielis', Alexander Rivera, along with his posse of about 20 men crowded i
n front of the Diaz family corner home on Westmoreland Street and Fairhill, Diaz said.
At one point, Rivera shoved Lily Diaz, she said, prompting Diaz's uncle, Edwin Soto, to step in
.
&
quot;It was a girls' fight," Diaz said. "My uncle [wanted] all of [the men] not to get in it."
Soto walked in the middle of fracas, and Bethzaida Soto-Diaz soon followed, fearing her little brother might end up in jail for a second time this year, Diaz said.
Moments later, bullets ran
g out and Soto-Diaz was lying on the street.
Yesterday, police charged Soto, 29, with attempted murder for shooting Rivera, 22, in the left arm. Soto suffered a graze wound to the head. Rivera was charged with Soto-Diaz's murder. Police said he shot her in the face in the cross-fire.
Cops wouldn't confirm family members' version of what led to the shootings.
"The Police Department cannot comment any further than the announcements of the arrests," a police
source said.
While there are several accounts of the shootings floating around West Kensington, one thing is certain: a matriarch died trying to keep the peace.
On Monday,
almost all of
Soto-Diaz's 13 siblings - five children, three grandchildren and countless cousins nieces and nephews - will line Fairhill Street to step inside the home to see her casket.
Breaking from tradition, the Diaz family has decided to hold the viewing at home. Soto-Diaz will spend her last night with her husband, Carlos, before being flown to her native
Puerto Rico on Tuesday where she will be buried.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/8998654.htm
Man arrested in mom's slaying :245:
By SIMONE WEICHSELBAUM
weichss@phillynews.com
It started as a girls' fight.
Throw in two men and two guns.
And a West Kensington mother of five who stepped in to quell the neighborhood brawl.
Add in flying bullets, and when it was all over, Bethzaida Soto-Diaz, 39, was lying in a pool of blood,
bullet wound to her face.
Yesterday, the suspected gunman was charged with her murder. Her brother, who police said shot the gunman, was charged with attempted murder.
Now, one of the So
to-Dia
z's daughters, Lily, 21, must live with the fact that her fist-fight with a longtime adversary inadvertently led to her mother's death.
"I am holding up the family," said her other daughter, Ana Diaz, 19. "Everyone is co
llapsing."
Diaz described Tuesday evening as a night that began with a simple scuffle involving her sister and another young woman.
At first the two were fighting over "old stuff," said Diaz, who declined to elaborate. Then the neighborhood men got involved.
Lily Diaz's foe, who neighbors identified as Marielis, is married to a member of a crew of men who hang on Randolph Street near Westmoreland, Diaz said.
After the fight, a friend of Marielis', Alexander Rivera, along with his posse of about 20 men crowded i
n front of the Diaz family corner home on Westmoreland Street and Fairhill, Diaz said.
At one point, Rivera shoved Lily Diaz, she said, prompting Diaz's uncle, Edwin Soto, to step in
.
&
quot;It was a girls' fight," Diaz said. "My uncle [wanted] all of [the men] not to get in it."
Soto walked in the middle of fracas, and Bethzaida Soto-Diaz soon followed, fearing her little brother might end up in jail for a second time this year, Diaz said.
Moments later, bullets ran
g out and Soto-Diaz was lying on the street.
Yesterday, police charged Soto, 29, with attempted murder for shooting Rivera, 22, in the left arm. Soto suffered a graze wound to the head. Rivera was charged with Soto-Diaz's murder. Police said he shot her in the face in the cross-fire.
Cops wouldn't confirm family members' version of what led to the shootings.
"The Police Department cannot comment any further than the announcements of the arrests," a police
source said.
While there are several accounts of the shootings floating around West Kensington, one thing is certain: a matriarch died trying to keep the peace.
On Monday,
almost all of
Soto-Diaz's 13 siblings - five children, three grandchildren and countless cousins nieces and nephews - will line Fairhill Street to step inside the home to see her casket.
Breaking from tradition, the Diaz family has decided to hold the viewing at home. Soto-Diaz will spend her last night with her husband, Carlos, before being flown to her native
Puerto Rico on Tuesday where she will be buried.