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 juvenile court documents, police believe Spain, now 19, 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. The case was filed in the juvenile court system because of his age at the time of the offense.
On Tuesday, Butler County Juvenile Court Judge Erik Niehaus, following a probable cause hearing, relinquished the case to the common pleas general division for consideration by a grand jury.
Spain was arrested as a juvenile on initial charges of murder and felonious assault with a gun specification.
In his decision to send the case to adult court, Niehaus noted Spain was under community control at the time of the fatal shooting. He is alleged to have used a gun in the crime and he is “emotionally, physically or psychologically mature enough for transfer,” according to court documents.
Bond for Spain was set at $1.5 million and he is housed in the Butler County Jail.
Markeylnd Townsend, 23, 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 the car full of people driven by Garcia-Tovar.
He is still awaiting trial and is scheduled to be back in Butler County Common Pleas Court Wednesday for a hearing. Townsend’s bond is $500,000
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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