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A former Williamsport-area man was expected to be brought back to the city from Hartford, Connecticut, to face charges in the violent shooting death of Jermaine Mullen, 29, of 2714 Grand St., who was killed in the 1000 block of Memorial Avenue during the early-morning hours of Dec. 9, according to city police.
As a result of the shooting investigation, Benjamin Villanueva, 33, of Connecticut, was identified as the assailant, and he was taken into custody at a home on Main Street in Hartford by members of the Hartford Police department, the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force and Connecticut State Police.
Williamsport police have charged Villanueva with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, illegal possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license and tampering with evidence. He was awaiting extradition.
Court records revealed that Villanueva was convicted 10 years ago of robbing a convenience store in South Williamsport back in October 2009. Two days before that robbery at the store, Villanueva was involved in an attempted robbery at a Woodlands Bank branch office, according to court records. He pled guilty to charges in that case before going to trial. At his sentencing in both cases in December 2014, Villanueva was sentenced to five to 12 years in state prison. Court records stated he was on state parole at the time of the shooting.
Investigators said Mullen died of multiple gunshot wounds.