District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced the murder conviction of a 39-year-old man who paid a hit-man to kill his 18-year-old girlfriend. Carlos Cruz, of Southbridge, MA, pled guilty to one count of murder in the 1st degree in the shooting death of Chelsea Frazier, also of Southbridge, MA, on April 13, 2008.
Cruz, who pled guilty to the top count in the indictment during jury selection, is facing a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Newman set sentencing for Tuesday, October 6, in Part T-23.
Cruz admitted that he paid his cousin $700 to kill Frazier because she no longer wanted to have an intimate relationship with him. On the day of the murder Cruz convinced Frazier to drive to the Bronx with him, along with the couple’s 14-month-old son, under the guise of a shopping trip to buy clothes for the toddler.
Frazier was shot multiple times while sitting behind the steering wheel of her car at the intersection of Torry and Barrett avenues in the Bronx. Detectives recovered several shell casings on the floor by the backseat where the toddler was strapped into a car seat. Cruz, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, got out of the car and told the alleged killer to shoot him in the leg in order to make the “hit” look like a robbery. The alleged killer, Devon Miller, 26, of 1060 Beach Avenue, is still awaiting trial.
