Crime & Safety

Teen Charged in June Killing To Stand Trial

Lucas Cabassa, 18, is accused of firing one shot and killing 25-year-old Joseph Rodriguez in the city's Lynfield section.

A Bethlehem teen accused of killing a 25-year-old man during a June melee in the city’s Lynfield section was ordered to stand trial, according to published reports.

Lucas Joseph Cabassa, 18, of 205 Dewberry Ave., allegedly fired one shot into the left temple of Joseph Anthony Rodriguez, who died of his injury 13 hours later.

"I saw [Cabassa] out of the corner of my left eye. He pointed the gun toward Joseph and he shot,” testified eyewitness Zachary Ortiz, a childhood friend of Cabassa’s, according to The Morning Call report.

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Cabassa, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, will face his charges as an adult.

District Judge Patricia Romig-Passaro ruled there was enough evidence to bring the case to trial during a hearing at the Northampton County Courthouse in Easton.

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The homicide charge and two weapons counts will go forward, but four counts of recklessly endangering another person were dropped by the prosecution, according to The Express Times.

According to police, Rodriguez got into a confrontation with Cabassa and two other teens after one of them had allegedly beaten up a young teenage friend of his.

After he was shot, Rodriguez fell to the ground and slumped against a tree near the corner of Argus Court and Argus Street, according to family members who claim that he lay there for 45 minutes before any help arrived. Everyone else who had been at the scene of the fight fled after the shot was fired, police said.


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