5 Indicted For Killing Of Former Cranston Girl

The Providence County Grand Jury issued a secret indictment charging Branden Castro, Luis Gonzales, Angel Valerio, and Ricardo Vasquez with murder, and other charges, for the June 15 shooting in Providence that left 12-year-old Aynis Vargas dead and injured three others. 

Vargas  moved with her family to Cranston last year, where she was a sixth grader at Garden City Elementary School.

The grand jury indicted the four defendants on one count of murder, two counts of conspiracy, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, and four counts of discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence. 

A fifth individual, who was 17 at the time of the incident, was arrested Wednesday, charged with one count of murder, two counts of conspiracy, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and four counts of discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence. 

According to police reports, on June 15, Castro, Gonzalez, Valerio, Vasquez, along with the juvenile co-conspirator, opened fire at a graduation party in the Hartford Park neighborhood of Providence, where bullets struck and killed Aynis Vargas and injured Vilma Tineo, Elaine Devargas, and Eugelyn Cabrera.  

Providence Police arrested Castro and Vasquez in July for their involvement in the incident. The investigation continued leading to the subsequent indictment and arrest of Gonzalez and Valerio and the arrest of the juvenile co-conspirator. The Providence Police conducted the investigation. Gonzalez and Valerio were arraigned in Providence County Superior Court Thursday before Superior Court Justice Robert D. Krause. Both were held without bail. The juvenile co-conspirator was presented before a Family Court judge this morning and was remanded to the Rhode Island Training School.