A Connecticut man accused of killing a young mother and her four-month-old baby allegedly gave her a chilling warning before opening fire.
Lance “Macho” Morales, 23, is charged with murder, assault and firearms in connection with the Nov. 19 drive-by shooting of Jessiah Mercado, 20, and her son, Messiah Diaz.
Police allege he drove alongside Mercado and Diaz’s Mazda SUV and opened fire with a fully automatic weapon in broad daylight in Hartford after allegedly having a brief conversation with Mercado in which she told him her baby was in the vehicle . .
“I don’t care,” a witness in the SUV told police, according to a newly released affidavit obtained by The Register Citizen.
It is alleged that Morales specifically targeted Mercado because she rented the Mazda SUV from him for $100 a day and fell behind on the payments.
On the day of the shooting, Mercado reportedly owed Morales $400.
Authorities also said they received a tip that Morales and Mercado were “previously in a relationship” and that he had tried to contact her, but she ignored him.
Mercado and Diaz were both pronounced dead at Hartford Hospital, while a male passenger survived his injuries. A fourth person in the car was unharmed in the shooting.
Lance “Macho” Morales, 23, is charged with murder, assault and firearms in the Nov. 19 drive-by shooting of Jessiah Mercado and her son, Messiah Diaz
Police allege Morales pulled up next to the Mazda SUV Mercado with her infant son (pictured) inside and opened fire with a fully automatic weapon
Meanwhile, police said Morales fled the scene of the shooting and abandoned his vehicle in his hometown of Waterbury, where it was later located.
He was found days later in Puerto Rico and taken into custody by U.S. Marshals at a home in the eastern city of Fajardo.
Morales was eventually extradited to Connecticut on Saturday and appeared in court in Hartford on Monday, when Judge Michael Wu set his bail at $5 million.
The judge also demanded that 40 percent of the bail, amounting to $2 million, be posted in cash under a state law that allows such demands in serious gun cases, after State’s Attorney Sharmese Walcott argued that he is “considered a threat for the safety of the public.”
Morales’ attorney did not respond to the claims against his client, saying only that Morales could not afford bail and noting that he is a lifelong resident of Connecticut.
The 23-year-old had previously been convicted of an unrelated attempted assault and was released from prison earlier this year.
He also has several other pending criminal cases in the state.
Mercado, meanwhile, previously lived in Hartford and participated in an anti-violence program that provides services to young women. CT Insider reports this.
Morales was located days later in Puerto Rico and taken into custody. He has since been extradited to Connecticut to face charges
Mercado previously lived in Hartford and participated in an anti-violence program that provides services to young women, as her son was in foster care
She moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, in 2023 to escape a culture of violence, program director Sunindiya Bhalla told the newspaper.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families later revealed that Diaz was a foster child.
It remains unclear what the child was doing with his biological mother on the day of the shooting.
Meanwhile, Morales is due back in court on January 8.
If convicted, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.