Thieves used GPS tracker to stalk ex-front then robbed, shot him dead in front of his mom: cops

Two jealous ex-pals of a 24-year-old Bronx man used a GPS tracker to stalk him after he posted a picture of his flashy diamond jewelry — then robbed and fatally shot him in front of his mom, authorities said.Welfy Espinal, 25, and Lenyn Toribio, 27, allegedly murdered 24-year-old Jeremy Ortega outside of his family’s Bronx apartment on April 13, 2025.

Ortega’s mother, Yokasta, told the New York Daily News that she begged the suspects not to kill him.“Why would you do that? Why would you kill him that way? What was all the envy and hate for? You knew that my son was a really good person — because you grew up with him!” Yokasta said.Ortega and Espinal were old friends who “would do everything” together in their youth, family said.Ortega also met Toribio a few years before the attack, his younger sister Brianna told the outlet.Yokasta said that she left her home’s front door open for Ortega, who had forgotten his keys.

She waited up for him to return and peered outside right as he was attempting to evade the attackers, she added.But she could only watch in horror as Espinal allegedly shot Ortega from behind.She rushed to his side and attempted to rouse him, but said he showed no signs of life.“They ruined my life.

They killed him right in front of me.It’s terrible,” Yokasta said.

Ortega’s younger brother, Jayden, told the outlet that their mother Facetimed him “in so much agony and distress” while she tried to tend to Ortega on the sidewalk.“She was telling me what was happening but it wasn’t clicking for me.

For a second, I just thought to myself, ‘Is this real?'” Jayden recounted.The family believes that the killers were jealous of Ortega, who worked as a supervisor at a recycling company.Toribio and Espinal allegedly stalked Ortega using a GPS tracking device they planted on his car so that they could steal his diamond jewelry, according to a news release from the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New Yor...