A Philadelphia man accused of killing another man in February allegedly fled to the Dominican Republic after the shooting and was later linked to the crime through cellphone records and surveillance video, according to documents the NBC10 Investigators obtained. Jose Castillo, 19, is charged with murder for the Feb. 7, 2026, killing of Jetson Cruz, 26. Police found Cruz shot to death inside a parking lot at Jose Manuel Collazo Park in North Philadelphia shortly after 7:30 p.m., documents said. According to investigators, Cruz and two relatives went to the park to meet a group of people connected to a planned gun transaction. A witness told police the group approached a SUV in a parking lot and that Cruz briefly showed the firearm in question before an argument began. The witness said he started running and then heard gunshots. Surveillance video reviewed by detectives shows the encounter escalating, documents said. Two people then exited the SUV, confronted Cruz and that a muzzle flash was recorded before the suspects fled the area. Investigators then used city and private surveillance cameras to track the suspects from the crime scene to a home. A search warrant executed at that home later led detectives to a cellphone belonging to a 17-year-old. A group chat found on the phone contained messages and videos that investigators interpreted as mocking and celebrating Cruz’s death, documents said. Detectives ultimately linked one of the phone numbers in that chat to Castillo. Investigators also obtained cellphone location data that they say placed a phone associated with Castillo near the scene at the time of the fatal shooting, documents said. When police searched Castillo’s home in April, family members told investigators he had left for the Dominican Republic to stay with his father. Detectives later obtained airline records showing a one-way ticket purchased shortly after the homicide. For months, Cruz’s killing appeared on Philadelphia police’s list of unsolved homicides. Police arrested Castillo on Sept. 3. Court records do not specify where he was taken into custody. During his preliminary arraignment, a judge ordered him held without bail. It was not clear if other suspects would be charged. Castillo’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 21. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. NBC10 investigative reporter David Charns can be reached at [email protected]. ...read more read less