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Deadly Case Of Mistaken Identity: New York Father Of Four Gunned Down While Sitting In Van Similar To Gunman’s Rival

By Angelica N. Sumter
Published on: 08:40 PST, Jun 15, 2016

A New York father of four was apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time as he was mistakenly gunned down while sitting in his minivan, which was similar to the vehicle of the gunman’s rival. According to the NY Daily News, just before 6 a.m. on May 4, 37-year-old Jose Ingles of the Bronx was sitting in his minivan, which was parked in front of a deli on Faile St. and Spofford Avenue when Fredrick Jones, 26, and another man reportedly approached his vehicle.

Without asking any questions, sources say that the two men began opening fire, fatally shooting Ingles five times before fleeing the scene. When paramedics arrived at the scene, the victim was immediately rushed to Lincoln Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Apparently, Jones was involved in a verbal altercation with an unnamed man earlier that day and made plans to retaliate with the help of another friend. After searching for the vehicle of his rival, he stumbled upon Ingle’s minivan and thought it belonged to the man he was looking for. Therefore, he and his friend reportedly approached the vehicle and opened fire, believing that they had their man.

However, in lieu of fatally shooting his rival, Jones allegedly shot a father of four little girls, who relatives say was a hardworking man. He reportedly worked as a “seasonal Parks Department filter plant operator, where he worked on swimming pools across the city.”

However, surveillance footage captured the deadly New York shooting, which allowed officers to create sketches of the gunman that they passed out to locals. It wasn’t until several weeks later that New York police officials were able to arrest a suspect in the deadly case of mistaken identity.

On Tuesday, June 14, Fredrick Jones was arrested and charged with the murder of Jose Ingles. The alleged Bronx gunman is also facing charges of “criminal possession of a firearm.”

According to WABC-TV, police officials later learned that the alleged gunman was previously convicted of “criminal sale of a controlled substance.”

The victim’s brother, Abraham Martinez, spoke with reporters about Ingles’ mistaken identity death, saying “Basically, they didn’t even bother to really think about who they were looking for, they just shot the first person they saw who had, I guess, the matching car.”

“Mistaken identity and now someone is gone; he tore apart a lot of worlds for a mistaken identity.”

The deadly case of mistaken identity left Ingles’ family heartbroken. His girlfriend Venus Camacho stated that he was a “good guy and she loved him very much.” She went on to say that “his daughters cry almost every day, and it breaks their heart when they hear their dad is not coming no more.”

However, before Camacho discovered that her significant other died in a case of mistaken identity, she was perplexed as to how someone could take the life of a man, who was living an honest life, raising four children.

She told reporters that “he wasn’t from the streets. He didn’t hang out. He stayed home and took care of his girls. They were his pride and joy. He didn’t deserve this.”

Although police officials arrested Fredrick Jones for the murder of Jose Ingles, they are still in search of the other suspect who assisted Jones in the mistaken identity killing.

Camacho says that she “will sleep much better at night if they find the other person as well.”

New York police officials are turning to the public for help in locating the second shooter. If anyone has any information regarding the suspect’s whereabouts, they are urged to contact “NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).”

[Image via Getty Images/Spencer Platt]

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