COUPLE DIED IN DRUG THEFT, COMPLAINT SAYS

Three Charged With Robbery; 1 In Custody

A south side couple who suffocated to death when they were bound and gagged
under layers of duct tape in July were killed in a drug stash rip-off, a
criminal complaint filed Tuesday shows.

During the robbery of Juan Alex DeLossantos, his assailants seized 4
kilograms of cocaine, an unspecified amount of marijuana and a gallon-size
bag filled with crack, all of which they subsequently took to northern
Wisconsin and sold at a casino-hotel complex, a criminal complaint says.

The suspects subsequently scattered to various areas of the country with
the proceeds before most of them fled the United States when word reached
them that they were suspects in the killings, according to the complaint.

While no one was charged with the killings, the complaint indicates that
authorities have the identities of those believed involved.

The complaint issued Tuesday charges only three people with conspiracy to
commit armed robbery on accusations of taking part in the events leading up
to the killings.

Evette M. Nieves, 22, of the 1100 block of W. Maple St. is the only one of
the three in custody thus far.

Also charged in warrants were Luis R. Davilia-Diaz, 27, whose last known
address was in the 1900 block of W. Burnham St., and Maydemi Rivera, 19,
who is now believed to be living in Puerto Rico.

The complaint charging the three indicates that at least four other people
were involved.

The bodies of DeLossantos, 30, and his girlfriend, Carmen Hernandez, 24,
were found bound and gagged on Aug. 1 in an upper flat in the 2500 block of
S. 30th St.

The complaint identifies DeLossantos as a "large-scale" cocaine dealer who
had "several weight houses" scattered throughout the city where he stored
his drugs and money. The conspirators cooked up an elaborate plan in which
DeLossantos was to be seduced by one of the women involved in the scheme
and lured to one of his drug houses where the others would rob him,
according to the complaint.

The complaint indicates that some of the participants had spent the
previous several weeks robbing drug dealers in Milwaukee.