CHARGES in connection with the rape and murder of 17-year-old Sharmaine Flores, who was found half-naked and dead in Purok 2, Barangay Bunga, Toledo City, midwest Cebu, may be filed against the suspect on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, according to the police.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, a spokesperson for Police Regional Office (PRO 7) Director Brigadier General Anthony Aberin, said the charges will be filed against Jonathan Sugabo, 29, with or without the results of the DNA test.
Sharmaine’s family, including Sugabo, had previously submitted a swab sample for a DNA test, and the police are still waiting for the results, including the autopsy report from the medico legal officer of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Forensic Unit 7.
“Naa tay gigukod nga reglementary period para sa pag-file og kaso tan-awon ni ugma og naa na to ang result ilaha na tong i-file or pwede ra nila i file ang kaso without the result, ugma pa ni mahibaw-an,” Pelare said on Monday, August 28.
(We have a reglementary period to file a case and we will find out whether the result will already be available by tomorrow (August 29) so the case will be filed or they (police) may file the lawsuit even without the result).
Lieutenant Colonel Manolo Salvatierra, the chief of Toledo City Police Station, asserted that they had learned from the victim’s brother and friend that Sugabo had flirted with Flores through chat, and that they could only confirm this by getting access to the victim’s mobile.
But Sugabo said he did not like the victim and that he was incapable of killing her because she was his neighbor.
Salvatierra said they are still reviewing the witnesses’ accounts before submitting them to the prosecutor for the inquest proceedings.
He continued by saying that additional evidence is still being collected in addition to the testimonies of witnesses.
Sugabo, who has a live-in partner, was seen by some witnesses at the scene where Flores’ body was discovered on Thursday night, August 24, 2023.
Sugabo said that even if he was at the site of the crime, it did not mean that he killed the victim. (AYB, TPT)
