On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers announced the reward for information on the October New Philadelphia murders has been increased.
Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers has upped the reward from $4,000 to $10,000 to anyone with information that would lead to arrests in the New Philadelphia murders of Hunter Mock and Angelito Caraballo.
The Pennsylvania State Police Troop L – Frackville Station is continuing to investigate a double homicide that occurred in New Philadelphia Borough on October 8th, 2023.
According to the 7 search warrants obtained through Magisterial District Judge Dave Plachko's office on October 17th, 2023, State Police responded on October 8th, 2023, around 11:50 p.m., to Ferndale Road in New Philadelphia for a call about a man knocking on a front door of a home asking for help.
State Police spoke with this man who stated he and his two friends, Hunter Mock, 18, and Angelito Caraballo, 16, were hanging out with another man, identified as Lamour Branch, 19, in the woods. The man stated the four went to this area and for unknown reasons, Branch pulled out a firearm and began shooting at the 3 of them.
Police said the witness got away by swimming through a pond nearby and running for approximately 20 to 30 minutes before finding the home. The witness said he did not the whereabouts at that time of Mock or Caraballo. The witness said he also reported hearing 10-20 gunshots during his escape.
On October 10, around 3:30am, troopers stated they received a call from a woman who said she went looking for the two victims and found their bodies in an area known as “The Sanchez”, an old mining area filled with water and where people socialize and have bonfires.
Investigators stated the coroner arrived on the scene and pronounced both of the victims dead. The coroner said Mock sustained a gunshot wound to the head and Caraballo sustained several puncture wounds/laceration-type injuries causing his death.
An autopsy that was performed would later rule the deaths as homicide.
The court documents also revealed that on October 10th, 2023, Branch contacted a friend with a new cell phone and requested a ride to Mountain Top in Luzerne County.
Investigators were aware that Branch had a warrant for his arrest on unrelated burglary charges and were able to track his whereabouts through his cell phone. Police travelled to Mountain Top where he was taken into custody and locked up in Schuylkill County Prison.
The court documents also indicate that Branch originally lied about his location on the night of the homicides and that he also told investigators that the witness shot and killed Mock and that Branch admitted he tried to shoot Caraballo but the gun didn’t fire.