LANCASTER, Pa. — Two Lancaster men and a juvenile have been charged in connection to a deadly 2022 shooting in the city, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday.
Luis Javier Rivera, Jorge Luis Santiago, and a juvenile who was 17 years old at the time have each been charged in connection to the incident, which resulted in the death of 30-year-old James Diggs during a botched robbery along the 400 block of Ruby Street on Dec. 9, 2022, prosecutors said.
The investigation determined the juvenile shot and killed Diggs in self-defense, according to prosecutors. Diggs had shot the juvenile twice while trying to steal a stolen handgun from him.
The juvenile then returned fire, hitting Diggs five times and killing him, prosecutors said.
The juvenile, now 19, will not be charged in Diggs' death, since his decision to return fire was deemed to be a justifiable act of self-defense.
The investigation determined the shooting occurred during a fight between Rivera, Santiago, the juvenile, and Diggs while the juvenile was trying to trade a stolen handgun to the other three men.
The juvenile suffered gunshot wounds to both legs and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Diggs was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
In an interview with police, the juvenile admitted to stealing the handgun from a vehicle he was a passenger in earlier in the day. He then arranged a trade for another gun on social media but was attacked by the three men during the exchange, “pistol whipped” in the head and shot as they attempted to take the firearm from him by force, resulting in him returning fire to defend himself, he told police.
Rivera told investigators that he, Santiago and Diggs had planned the interaction as a robbery from the start, intending to physically take the firearm from the juvenile by force rather than completing the trade.
Rivera told police the three brought a fake firearm to the exchange in an attempt to trick the juvenile and to give Diggs enough time to grab the stolen weapon while he and Santiago were to scare the juvenile into relinquishing the gun.
But the juvenile realized that the three were planning on taking the gun without a trade and a physical struggle began, Rivera told police.
During the altercation, Diggs shot the juvenile with a separate firearm that he had brought, resulting in the juvenile returning fire with the stolen weapon and killing Diggs.
Nearby home security cameras captured audio of the shooting and images of a white sedan connected to Santiago approaching the area of the shooting and leaving shortly after it occurred.
Investigators later found the stolen weapon – a 9mm handgun – while executing a search warrant inside the juvenile’s residence. A witness told police the juvenile brought the gun inside the residence.
A subsequent investigation revealed that the handgun had been stolen earlier in the day from a court-appointed counselor for whom the juvenile was a client. The counselor was unaware that the firearm was missing and believed that it was still in the glove compartment of his vehicle until he was contacted by police the day after the shooting.
The purpose of the attempted trade was to eliminate the connection between the juvenile and the counselor, he told investigators.
While he was not charged in connection to Diggs' death, the juvenile was charged in the juvenile system with theft from a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm by a minor, carrying a firearm without a license and criminal use of a communication facility.
Rivera, 23, was charged with aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, robbery, criminal conspiracy to commit robbery, and criminal use of a communication facility.
Santiago, 26, was charged with aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, robbery and criminal conspiracy to commit robbery.
First Deputy Assistant District Attorney Cody Wade will prosecute the case.
