scorecardresearch Skip to main content
RI CRIME

Two men arrested, charged with killing Pawtucket couple

Miguel Perez and Tyler Freeman will be arraigned Friday on first-degree murder charges in the killings of a man and a woman who were found dead in their pickup truck late last month

The Providence Public Safety Complex in Providence, R.I.Lane Turner/Globe Staff

PROVIDENCE — Two men have been apprehended following early morning raids in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, according to police, and are both charged with murder in the Oct. 28 fatal shooting of a Pawtucket couple.

Providence Police Major David Lapatin said Miguel Perez, 29, and Tyler Freeman, 28, were separately taken into custody on arrest warrants related to the killings of 30-year-old Sreylakh Ros and 29-year-old Brian Fernandez.

Perez was taken into custody around 6:30 Thursday morning by the Warwick Police SWAT team at his home on Highland Avenue, off of Post Road, police said.

Also Thursday, Providence police traveled to Norton, Mass., where they apprehended Freeman with the help of the Massachusetts State Police and Norton Police.

Advertisement



Both suspects are expected to be arraigned Friday morning on first-degree murder charges.

“It is a good feeling to be able to bring justice to the families for this violent crime,” said Colonel Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief. “Those that want to come to the city to commit violent crimes will be held accountable.”

Another person, Vathna Keo, was also arrested Thursday morning at the Warwick home on firearms charges, but is not connected to the Providence homicide, police said.

Ros and Fernandez were shot and killed late last month while sitting in a parked pickup truck on Hathaway Street, near the Cranston border.

The victims were found dead in the truck by Cranston police after neighbors called 911 reporting gunshots.

Police said the two were a couple and had four children between them, including 1-year-old twins. They lived in Pawtucket.

Funeral services for both victims were scheduled to take place Thursday morning.

Police declined to comment on some specific circumstances surrounding their deaths, including which of the suspects pulled the trigger.

Lapatin said the victims were drawn to the Hathaway Street location “by a falsehood,” but emphasized that “it had nothing to do with drugs or money.”

Advertisement



“It was set up to murder him,” Lapatin said, referring to Fernandez, who was driving the truck.

Lapatin said the suspects knew the couple, but declined to comment on the specific relationship.

Perez said the US Secret Service was involved in the investigation, assisting with digital and forensic evidence. He said the investigation is ongoing.

The homicides were the 12th and 13th in Providence this year.

This story has been updated.


Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado.