Police arrested a 17-year-old boy for the death of flower shop owner Daniel “Jun” Cañete after three witnesses identified him as the one who sat outside the shop the time the crime was committed along Sikatuna St., barangay Day-as, Cebu City early Monday morning.
The minor’s fingerprints matched those found at the crime scene, said Senior Supt. Noli Romana, director of the Cebu City Police Office.
But the teenager said he was in his house in barangay Pooc, Talisay City when Cañete, 44, was stabbed to death inside his shop.
Two other minors were also invited by City Intelligence Branch (CIB) yesterday. They were seen with the teenage suspect and Cañete inside a disco bar at the South Road Properties (SRP) Friday night.
The teenage suspect admitted that he and two others met with Cañete Friday night, but he denied killing the florist.
“Nagkita mi didto, nitan-aw siya namo, unya nangidhat,” he said, adding that Cañete then invited them over to the flower shop. They rode a taxi and continued their drinking at the shop. (We saw him and he winked at us.)
He claimed that Cañete paid them P1,400 in exchange for sex. The three minors got P300 each and used the remaining P500 to continue enjoying the night.
Canete’s sister who works with a court in Cagayan de Oro City went to the CIB office to assist in preparing the filing of charges against the suspect. The victim’s sister refused to give further details.
“We are upset and very emotional over the incident,” she said.
The mother of the teenager showed up at the police headquarters. She said her son was sleeping at his father’s house in barangay Pooc during the incident.
“Natug naman na siya didto, wa na man na molakaw”, said Catalina. (He never went anywhere that night, he just slept.)
She said that her son was picked up by CIB operatives shortly before noon Tuesday.
Romana said they will be filing complaints for robbery with homicide against the teenager. But because he is a minor, they still need the Department of Social Welfare and Development to evaluate if the minor acted with discernment.
The other minor who was invited by the police also denied involvement, saying that they only learned of the incident after seeing a television report.
They said that because they were not guilty, they did not flee.
Cañete died from stab wounds in his arms and stomach. Some P250,000 was missing from his shop, as well as laptops, and four mobile phones.
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