Florida man accused in 2023 Allentown killing ordered to face court on all charges

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A Florida man charged with homicide in a 2023 shooting has been ordered to face Lehigh County Court on all charges against him.

Alberto Jose Rios-Santiago, 26, of Deltona, Florida, had a preliminary hearing Friday before District Judge Rashid Santiago.

Santiago ruled there was sufficient evidence on all charges against Rios-Santiago, according to a release from Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan's office.

The charges are counts of homicide, a first-degree felony; and two counts each of aggravated assault-attempt to or causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon, both second-degree felonies.

He also faces a misdemeanor charge of possession of an instrument of crime.

Rios-Santiago remains in Lehigh County Jail without bail. He is scheduled for formal arraignment on June 3.

He had been extradited from Florida, his home state, in March.

Details of the incident

On March 7, 2023, Allentown Police were called to a shooting at outside the Mamajuana Restaurant and Grill after-hours club in the 1000 block of Union Boulevard.

There, they found three people were shot, including Blessing Taveras, 28, of Schnecksville. Taveras was shot once and died from her injuries in a local hospital.

Her death was ruled a homicide by the Lehigh County Coroner.

Two other men also were shot and wounded. Police located one victim at an area hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg. Both survived their injuries.

An investigation revealed that Rios-Santiago fired several shots from a handgun before fleeing the scene.

The case was investigated by Allentown Police Detective Raymond Ferraro and Lehigh County Homicide Task Force Detectives Kevin Mriss and Moses Miller.

The case will be prosecuted by Chief of Prosecutions Patricia Fuentes Mulqueen and Assistant District Attorney Sis-Obed G. Torres-Figueroa.