In September, Fairfield Twp. police arrested Spain for murder, and the case was heard in Butler County Juvenile Court because of his age at the time of the alleged offense. The case was bound over to adult court by a juvenile judge in October for grand jury consideration.
Spain is being held in the Butler County Jail on a $1 million bond set by Butler County Common Pleas Judge Noah Powers II. He is scheduled to be back in court April 11.
Garcia-Tovar was fatally shot on July 23, 2018 while behind the wheel of a car in the parking lot outside the apartment complex. She was pronounced dead the next day. A second gunshot victim survived.
According to court documents, police believe Spain is the person who fired the shot that killed Garcia-Tovar.
Spain “did shoot and kill Sydney Garcia-Tovar. Victim was shot in the head,” according to the court offense document signed by Fairfield Twp. Police Sgt. Brandon McCroskey. The court document also accuses Spain of firing a 45-caliber handgun into Garcia-Tovar’s occupied car.
At the time of Garcia-Tovar’s death, Spain lived on Wildbranch Road, where the shooting occurred.
Markeylnd Townsend, 24, was arrested two weeks after the homicide on an unrelated aggravated robbery charge in Hamilton and sentenced in April 2019 to three years in prison. While in prison, Townsend was indicted in April 2021 for murder with a gun specification and felonious assault. Townsend is accused of firing a weapon into a car full of people driven by Garcia-Tovar. He is still awaiting trial.
The Journal-News does not typically name juvenile suspects unless they are tried as an adult, but it is happening in this case because Spain is now an adult.
Credit: Provided
Credit: Provided
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