Man arrested for murder of entertainer Romario Cartagena in Callao
The PNP captured Gian Piero Forro Tejada, 29, hours after the attack that killed the Callao entertainer and a woman on Jirón Loreto.
Suspect captured hours after double homicide in Callao
The National Police of Peru (PNP) detained Gian Piero Forro Tejada, 29 years old, known as alias 'Piero', for his alleged participation in the armed attack that claimed the lives of entertainer and dancer Romario Cartagena, which occurred on Sunday, 25 October on block 9 of Jirón Loreto in Callao. This was reported by infobae.com in its 26 October edition.
The intervention took place a few hours after the incident. In an official post on X, the institution reported that the detained man is under investigation for his "alleged participation in an incident that resulted in the deaths of a woman and a well-known Callao entertainer, as well as a man wounded by firearms". During the detention, officers seized a motorcycle and a mobile phone.
The director of Criminal Investigation, PNP general Ricardo Espinoza Cuestas, confirmed that Forro Tejada is a suspected participant in Cartagena's homicide. Police did not specify what role he may have had in the planning or execution of the attack; that point will need to be determined during the investigation.
Hypothesis: the entertainer may not have been the target
According to the police reconstruction presented by Espinoza Cuestas, the attack would have been directed against a woman identified as "Tamara", who was with Cartagena during a social event when the shots were fired. The entertainer had security personnel, who responded to the gunfire, but was hit by bullets and died at the scene.
The PNP maintains that Cartagena's death would have been an unintended consequence of the attack. Police hypothesis points to "Tamara" also having been present when Jonathan Bryan Márquez Huamaní, known as 'Charlie Papa', was killed approximately one month earlier. The authorities link the latter to the criminal organisation led by alias 'Cholo Wara'.
Based on that precedent, investigators are considering the possibility that the woman was the target again. The institution stressed that the motive presented corresponds to a police hypothesis and will need to be clarified during the investigation.
Crime linked to gang dispute in Callao
Espinoza Cuestas connected the attack to an alleged confrontation between criminal organisations operating in Callao, linked to extortion and contract killing. The authorities stressed that Cartagena had no known connection to those networks.
Romario Cartagena was recognised as an entertainer, dancer and instructor in the Callao music circuit. He had close ties with the group Guajiro y El Sello de Primera, associated with tropical music, salsa and Cuban timba. His participation in that orchestra's events was recorded in posts and videos circulated in recent months.
His death generated messages of condolence from people close to him and followers of his performances. The ongoing investigation will need to determine how the attack unfolded, who participated and what the exact motive for the crime was. So far, no official details have been released about the specific role that alias 'Piero' may have had in the incident.
Source: Google News PE — Crime