Man wanted for wife's murder
Leigh Kelley
Times-News Staff Writer
leigh.kelley@hendersonvillenews.com


Rivera


Henderson County Sheriff's deputies are searching for a suspect in connection with an early morning shooting Sunday that claimed the life of an area woman and sent a 15-month-old child to the hospital.

Officers are looking for Joel Zelaya Rivera, 25, of Hendersonville, said Lt. Erik Summey with the Henderson County Sheriff's Department.

The incident occurred at 235 Adeles Way in the Alpine Woods Mobile Home Park, around midnight, Summey said.

A neighbor who witnessed the shooting made the 911 call to the sheriff's department at 12:10 a.m. on Sunday, the detective said.

A neighbor witnessed the incident, the detective said. Rivera shot his wife and the couple's 15-month-old son, Summey said.

The little boy was flown by MAMA to Mission Hospitals in Asheville, he said. The child's condition was unknown early Sunday afternoon, said Merrell Gregory, a spokeswoman for Mission Hospitals. Summey declined to release the victim's name pending notification of family members. Neighbors identifed her as Gloria Silos. The child was known by the name "Baby Junior Joe," said T.J. Chastain, a woman who lives across the street from the Rivera family at 232 Adeles Way.

Sheriff's deputies spent the day Sunday interviewing neighbors and searching for Rivera, Summey said. The State Bureau of Investigation and the Hendersonville Police Department are also assisting in the investigation.

"We are trying to piece together exactly what led up to this," he said. "We are looking for people to tell us what happened and we are still trying to find the wife's next of kin."

Rivera left the scene on foot, Summey said, but authorities seized a green, Toyota four-wheel drive SUV that was registered to him. Officers also found a gun they believe to be the murder weapon, he said. Summey said he could not provide a specific description of what type of gun officers found, pending further investigation. Neighbors said Rivera owned a pistol and was in the habit of firing shots into the air on the weekends while drinking with his friends.

Tragic sight

Chastain said she heard gunshots and opened her curtains to see Rivera's wife lying in the yard in front of the couple's home as Rivera stood over her and fired five shots into her. Neighbors said Rivera was sitting in the yard with some friends when he got up and went into the mobile home and began shooting. Rivera had been drinking, Chastain, 27, said. The couple's two daughters, Bianca, 7, and Emily, 4, were in the home when the incident occurred, she said.

"He came out the door while she was lying on the ground, pointed the gun at her and shot her five times," said Chastain, as she pointed to the spot in the yard where the woman fell, just a few feet from the front steps of the Rivera home.

Rivera got into his vehicle and drove off when neighbors came out of their homes to try and help the woman, Chastain added. The woman asked the neighbors to call an ambulance, Chastain said.

"As we were talking to her, he was pulling back up and she asked us what he was doing and we told her he was coming back and she said 'I'm just going to lay here, I'm not going to move.' He went into the house, grabbed the baby and placed him next to her and then he started talking about killing himself," she said.

Chastain said she told the girls to run to her house for safety. As Rivera began going toward his wife and son, several neighborhood men "grabbed him," she said, fearing he would get his gun out of his vehicle. Rivera then ran behind some mobile homes heading toward the Ingles off U.S. 64, neighbors said.

"Everybody's attention was on her so we didn't see exactly where he went," Chastain said. "When I got over to her, I could tell she was gone. Her eyes were closed and I felt no pulse."

Chastain held the baby as officers transported the pair down to the end of the street to a waiting ambulance, she said. The little boy had a gunshot wound under his left eye, Chastain said.

"It looked like the bullet had gone in under his eye and out the back of his head," she said.

The ambulance took the child to a medical helicopter that was on standby near the Ingles and the Hendersonville Super Wal-Mart, Chastain said.

No one else was injured in the shooting, she said. Department of Social Service workers came early Sunday morning and took custody of the two girls, Chastain added. She said that social workers told her and other neighbors Sunday that the injured little boy was expected to recover from his wounds.

Surprise, anger

By early Sunday evening, neighbors had turned the place where the victim died into a shrine with lit candles and hand-drawn pictures left there by some of the neighborhood children. Neighbors painted a white cross on the tree and set the candles in a semi-circle at the base of the tree to mark the spot where the woman's body had lain in a puddle of blood.

Chastain said she was "surprised" by the tragic turn of events even though the couple had a history of domestic squabbles.

"Even with all the problems they've had, it's not like him (Rivera) to do this," Chastain said. "They always seemed to talk through their problems so I'm surprised."

Chastain's roommate, 31-year-old Ana Montalvo, made the 911 call for help. Watching her daughter place a drawing at the shrine underneath the tree in the Rivera's front yard, Montalvo said the more she thought about what had happened, the angrier she became.

"It's kinda getting to me because I had to contact her family in Ft. Worth, Texas, to tell them what happened," she said. "I'm angry that this has happened."

Felony warrants have been issued on Rivera and investigators are asking for the public's assistance with any information as to Rivera's whereabouts, Summey said.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Sheriff's Office at 828-697-4911 or Henderson County Crime Stoppers at 828-697-STOP.

Contact Kelley at 694-7871 or e-mail her at leigh.kelley@hendersonvillenews.com.
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