A San Juan Court judge found cause for trial against Anderson Bierd Melo, one of the suspects charged in the July 29, 2022 massacre at the Quintana public housing project, which left four people dead: Davis John Ortega Ayala, Dereck Ortega Gandía, Diego Morales Morales, and Raúl Ortiz Centeno. An arrest warrant had been issued against Bierd Melo in absentia on March 15, 2024.
Bierd Melo, a Dominican Republic native, was recently captured there during a federal human-trafficking investigation. At the preliminary hearing, prosecutors Gracielis Vega Bermúdez, Adriana Albors Ortiz, and Iván Rivera Labrador presented evidence against him on four counts of first-degree murder and six weapons-law violations, among other charges.
The investigation was led by agent Carlos Colón López of the Homicide Division of the Puerto Rico Police Bureau's Criminal Investigations Corps in San Juan. Bierd Melo has been linked to the criminal organization known as