Puerto Rican Club Alleged Killer to Stand Trial

An Allentown man accused of shooting and killing a Bethlehem woman outside the Puerto Rican Beneficial Society was ordered to face trial in Northampton County Court, according to The Morning Call.

Rene Figueroa, 32, of 936 W. Gordon St., had his case bound over for court in a preliminary hearing before District Judge Nancy Matos-Gonzalez on Monday, even though a key prosecution witness could not correctly identify him in a courtroom, the newspaper reported.

Charges were also upheld against Javier Rivera-Alvarado, 38, of 782 Mohawk St., Allentown, who is also accused of being an aggressor in a bloody gun battle that erupted on Dec. 2 in an E. Third Street parking lot that left Yolanda Morales dead and four men wounded.

According to police, Rene Figueroa fired one shot into Morales’s chest when she stepped between him and his intended target, her boyfriend, Angel Figueroa, who is not related to Rene, during a fight that erupted outside of the club.

The fight started with a minor argument between two groups of people that did not know each other – one from Easton, another from Allentown – inside the club that escalated and spilled outside, according to authorities.

Rivera-Alvarado is accused of firing several bullets into the legs of Orialis Figueroa, Angel’s brother, then firing several more shots at Angel Figueroa, Morales and Luis Rivera during the chaotic melee.

Rene Figueroa is charged with one count of criminal homicide, two counts of attempted criminal homicide, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one count of carrying a firearm without a license, one count of receiving stolen property and six counts of criminal conspiracy.

Javier Rivera-Alvarado is charged with three counts of attempted criminal homicide, three counts of aggravated assault, one count of carrying a firearm without a license and seven counts of criminal conspiracy.