As hundred of people turned out Wednesday morning for a memorial service held for Michael Jones, the 25-year-old English soccer coach brutally slain on 14th Street Sunday, his killer remains on the run in Mexico.
The suspect, Orlando Orea, reported fled to Mexico on Tuesday, according to the Daily News.
Orea is said to have taken off on an Aeroflot flight from John F. Kennedy Airport around one in the morning, fifteen hours before police put his name on the federal no-fly list.
He paid for the one-way ticket in cash just before boarding the plane.
Police identified Orea based on a surveillance video that captured the gory murder on tape, showing a ponytailed man in a dark jacket. The Associated Press reports that he was also identified by multiple witnesses, including an employee at a tattoo parlor he frequented.
The coaching staff of the New York Red Bulls, many wearing their jerseys, attended the memorial service Wednesday at First Baptist Church in White Plains, N.Y. Jones was a youth soccer coach for the Red Bulls. His girlfriend, Bryeanna Murphy, was also there this morning.
Orea has several aliases: the Daily News reported Juaquin Ramirez, and the Associated Press gave Orlando Guttierez and Orlando Estevas as his names as well. According to the Daily News, Orea has previously been arrested for assault in Nassau County in 2003, and held for 21 days in 2004 for violating an order of protection.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said that it seems likely that the murder was a case of mistaken identity, and that Orea was actually seeking a person he had fought with at a bay on 14th Street, near the murder scene at 14th Street and Fifth Avenue. The fight reportedly involved a woman.
Orea’s possible ties to Mexico are unclear. According to the Associated Press, detectives are currently attempting to find him.
The victim’s father, Perry Jones, told the Daily News they just want an arrest made.
A memorial has been made on 14th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, at the spot where Jones was killed.
