Arrests made, here and in S.C., in 2 Providence slayings

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, August 24, 2007

By Gregory Smith

Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — Two men suspected in two separate slayings in South Providence have been apprehended, the police said yesterday.

Kelbyn Ramirez, 26, a convicted drug dealer who allegedly shot to death an acquaintance in a street argument May 14, was caught in a routine car stop by police or sheriff’s deputies in Dillon, S.C., Providence police Maj. Stephen Campbell said yesterday.

In an unrelated case, Campbell said state and federal agents caught David Mello, 20, of Providence, hiding under a bed in a North End tenement yesterday morning. He was wanted in last week’s slaying of an illicit-drug buyer, Marc Quintal, 20, of Fall River.

Campbell said he had scant information about the apprehension of Ramirez but knows that a law-enforcement officer stopped Ramirez, who was in a car and offered a false identity. Ramirez nevertheless was identified through his fingerprints and it was discovered that he was named in an arrest warrant in connection with a slaying in Providence.

An illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic whose Providence address was 479 Potters Ave., Ramirez is in custody in Dillon, according to Campbell. The major said he would like to send his detectives to South Carolina to further their investigation of Ramirez.

He is accused of murder in the slaying of Aneuris Caceres, 21, of 135 Colfax St., South Providence, behind a tenement at 129-131 Houston St. Ramirez had a pistol and Caceres, a shotgun, and Ramirez won the face-off.

As for Mello, he and Sylvester Moses, 20, whose last known address is 519A Dexter St., in the West End, are named in arrest warrants charging murder in the shooting death of Quintal on Aug. 15. Mello allegedly offered to sell drugs to Quintal, but when he and Moses unsuccessfully tried to rob Quintal instead, the shooting occurred, the police have said.

The Rhode Island State Police Violent Fugitive Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service developed information several days ago that Mello, who has lived in Providence and also has ties to Fall River and Taunton, may be in a third-floor apartment in a house at 100 Metcalf St., Campbell said.

They went to that apartment, were allowed in by an unidentified tenant, found Mello under a bed, and arrested him without incident, according to Campbell.

The major commended the marshals and the members of the task force, who surrendered custody of Mello to the city police, for their effective work. He declined to disclose how they learned of Mello’s whereabouts.

Mello, who was being held last night at police headquarters, is expected to appear in District Court for arraignment today.

In the process of arresting Mello, the agents also arrested Michael Gomes, who was in the apartment, too. Gomes is named in a warrant charging him with felony assault for having allegedly stabbed Rodney Dolberry, with whom he was acquainted, in the abdomen at 732 Plainfield St., Silver Lake, in April.

Gomes, too, was being held at police headquarters pending arraignment.

gsmith@projo.com

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