Detectives have arrested a second suspect in the grisly slaying of a pair of 22 year olds discovered in a burning car on a Bronx roadside nearly two year ago, police sources said Tuesday.
The suspect, who was not immediately named, was nabbed early Tuesday and is being questioned by detectives in the 45th Precinct stationhouse, a source said. No charges were immediately filed.
The NYPD previously identified Steven Santiago, 35, as the second and final suspect being sought in the murders of Jesse Parrilla and Nikki Huang in the burning wreckage of a sedan parked on Shore Road near the Split Rock Golf Course in Pelham Bay on May 16, 2022.
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DCPI Detectives had identified Steven Santiago, pictured, as the last suspect being sought in the murders of Jesse Parrilla and Nikki Huang in the burning wreckage of a sedan parked on Shore Road near the Split Rock Golf Course in Pelham Bay on May 16, 2022.
A fierce rivalry between two Lower East Side street crews, the Up The Hill and Down the Hill gangs, sparked the brutal double homicide after Huang, who was robbed of her purse, sought out help from friends in one of the gangs — setting in motion eight hours of terrifying tit-for-tat violence.
The mayhem would leave three dead, including Huang, who owned a nail salon, and her friend Parrilla, and three others shot and wounded across three boroughs.
Two People Dead In Burnt Car In The Bronx
Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News Nikki Huang, 23, and Jesse Parrilla, 22, were pronounced dead on scene after firefighters extinguished a Honda Accord engulfed in flames on Shore Road in the Bronx on May 16, 2022. (Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily News)
Police believed Santiago and Lower East Side gang banger Jahmel Sanders, 31, kidnapped Huang and Parrilla shortly after 1 a.m., before executing them and leaving their bodies in the burning car.
Their deaths were ruled a murder after an autopsy revealed both victims suffered gunshot wounds to the head and body, cops said.
Bronx, NY. 03/07/2023: Jahmal Sanders was walked out of the 45th Precinct, Tuesday afternoon after being charged in connection to the double homicide of Jesse Parrilla and Nikki Huang. Parrilla and Huang were shot and burned to death in their car on the
GREGG VIGLIOTTI/for New York Daily News Jahmel Sanders in police custody in the Bronx after his arrest. (Gregg Vigliotti for New York Daily News)
Sanders was arrested on March 7, 2023 and charged with murder, manslaughter, robbery, kidnapping and other charges. More than a year later, he remains on Rikers Island as his case is prosecuted in Bronx Criminal Court.
Cops were offering a $10,000 reward for Santiago’s apprehension.
