Two teenage boys have been charged with murder after the shooting death of a university student in Sydney this month, which police say was a case of mistaken identity.
Marco Tapia, 23, was shot inside his family’s home in Glen Alpine early on 1 September.
Officers were called to the house just before 4am that day by reports of a home invasion. They found Tapia with a gunshot wound; he died at the scene.
Detectives conducted an extensive investigation, determining that the wrong house had been targeted. Two boys, aged 14 and 16, were arrested on Wednesday and charged with murder. They are not alleged to have shot the weapon.
Both face charges of participating in a criminal group contributing to criminal activity, possession of an unauthorised firearm and driving conveyances taken without the owners’ consent.
The 14-year-old was also charged with damaging property with fire or an explosion.
Police will allege in court that the pair staged vehicles and provided a weapon for the gunman. On Thursday, they appeared in children’s court, where neither applied for bail.
They will remain behind bars until they next front a children’s court on November 13.
Hallmarks of organised crime: police
Detective superintendent Joe Doueihi, commander of the New South Wales police homicide squad, said police believe there were three main offenders that entered the house during the home invasion and committed the alleged shooting, saying the incident has “all the hallmarks of an organised crime murder”.
He went on to say the boys’ alleged involvement was shocking and the charges reflect their alleged knowledge of the episode.
“Even those these boys were not present and not part of the actual murder, we will allege that by the nature of their activities they form part of the joint criminal enterprise, therefore they are liable for the offence of murder,” he said during a media conference.
“We obviously allege by the fact that we charged them with murder, that they were aware of what their actions were and that they were significantly involved in this crime.”
He said police would allege the boys “prepared cars, they dropped cars off. They picked up the offenders. They dropped off the offenders, they supplied a firearm, they burnt the car.”
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailDoueihi said the charges came amid “clumsy” behaviour that left a “trail of evidence”. One of the boys allegedly lit the car used in the attack on fire, but burnt himself in the process and wound up in hospital.
“Both young, both vulnerable, young naive children,” he said. “Both still at school. I’m at a loss as to why these people were enticed into this type of crime.”
“They are easily lured by the thrill and the financial incentive. That’s a short-term gain for significantly long term consequences.”
‘Hate came to our house’
Tapia’s parents spoke to Channel Nine’s A Current Affair this week, saying: “Hate came to our house.” Both were home at the time, as was their daughter.
“I remember him taking the last breath,” his mother, Claudia, told the program.
His father, Sergio, said: “He was a beautiful young man. It’s already impacted a lot of hearts to see such a beautiful person, such a caring, loving man pass in this awful manner.
“It was wasteful, it was useless, it was ridiculously stupid to take such a beautiful person away from this earth.”
The NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, has vowed to target those behind a spate of Sydney shootings. Another man was killed on 2 September.
“One innocent victim is unacceptable to me,” he told reporters after Tapia’s death. “We won’t rest until we stop this violence … anything we can do to stop it, we will do.”
Additional reporting by Australian Associated Press
