The victim after being shot and left by responding policemen.
THE Navotas City Regional Trial Court Branch 286 has convicted a police staff sergeant with homicide while four others have been found guilty of illegal discharge of firearms in the killing of 17-year-old Jerhode ‘Jemboy’ Baltazar in a case of mistaken identity.
The court found Police Staff Sergeant Gerry Sabate Maliban guilty of homicide and sentenced him to four years imprisonment.
Alongside him, Police Executive Master Sergeant Roberto Dioso Balais Jr., Police Staff Sergeant Nikko Pines Corollo Esquillon, Patrolman Benedict Danao Mangada, and Corporal. Edmard Jade Blanco were convicted of illegal discharge of firearms.
Police Staff Sergeant Antonio Balcita Bugayong was acquitted of all charges.
On August 2, Jemboy and a companion were cleaning a boat along a river near their residence when law enforcement officers arrived.
Despite issuing a warning shot, the officers proceeded to open fire, resulting in Jemboy’s death.
Law enforcement authorities asserted that the teenager leaped from the boat and attempted to swim away in the river, where he was subsequently shot by the police.
However, Jemboy’s family contended that he fell into the water after sustaining gunshot wounds.
Subsequent investigations revealed that Jemboy was not the intended target of the police operation.
Police claimed they were pursuing a suspect involved in a shooting incident within the locality and had received information that the perpetrator had boarded a boat.
