Alexander Pedraza.
“Pucho” owed fellow dealer Alexander Pedraza $1,000 for drugs. He shot Pedraza to death rather than pay up.
That version of a Jan. 18 Fair Haven murder is told in a newly released arrest warrant affidavit.
The affidavit, written by Detective Kyle Malloy, details the investigation that led to the arrest of Pucho, who’s 50, for allegedly shooting 40-year-old Pedraza to death. Police announced that arrest alongside Pedraza’s survivors at a press conference Monday.
Police Chief Karl Jacobson called the killing a reminder of the toll hard drugs continue to take on New Haven.
“We keep thinking drugs aren’t a big deal,” Jacobson said. “People are still dying over drugs. They’re overdosing in record numbers. And they’re shooting each other.”
Detective Malloy’s affidavit details how police pieced together their case from surveillance video footage, DNA, telephone records, and interviews of people connected to the incident, including an eyewitness. Here’s the resulting version of the story:
Pedraza called a friend nicknamed “Papa” on Jan. 18 to report that he was looking to track down Pucho to “have a ‘fair one’” over the $1,000 in owed drug money. Papa agreed to serve as backup.
They found Pucho on River Street. Pedraza started fighting Pucho, and getting the better of him.
“OK! OK! I’ll get you the money!” Pucho, on the ground, called after “three to five minutes.” Then, at 8:16 p.m., Pucho allegedly fired a gun twice at Pedraza, striking him in the lower back and left wrist. He died at the hospital later that evening as a result of injuries from those shots.
Police arrested Pucho, who has previous weapons and drug-related felony convictions, on the murder charge as well as illegal gun possession charges on April 12. He is being held on $2 million bond. He has not yet entered a plea.
Nora Grace-Flood Photo
Chief Jacobson and Mayor Justin Elicker with Pedraza's father and partner at Monday's press conference.