A 25-year-old man who rented a room in a home in Georgetown was sentenced in Superior Court for beating and raping a woman who lived in the home, and for killing another man.
In October 2016, Juan Tovar Cruz returned to the house on Wilson Hill Road where he had just started living the week before. Tovar Cruz threatened the woman who lived there, then tied her up with an electrical cord and raped her multiple times. The victim’s 2-year-old daughter was present in the home during the assault.
The victim was able to escape to a neighbor’s to call police, and when Delaware State Troopers arrived, they found a man who had been beaten to death with a hammer.
In January 2019, Tovar Cruz pleaded guilty to Murder Second Degree, Rape First Degree, Rape Second Degree, Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and Assault Second Degree. A judge sentenced Tovar Cruz to 67 years in prison followed by 1 year of home confinement and 2 years of probation. Deputy Attorneys General Martin Cosgrove and Rebecca Anderson prosecuted the case and social worker Monserrat Matos assisted in the prosecution.
Original Story
Georgetown– The Delaware State Police Homicide Unit has arrested Juan Carlos Tovar Cruz, 22 of Georgetown, in connection with the death of a 30-year-old Georgetown man, according to Public Information Officer, Master Corporal Gary Fournier.
Fournier tells First State Update that at approximately 2:54 a.m. Sunday, October 30, 2016, troopers responded to the 14,000 block of Wilson Hill Road for a report of an assault. Troopers made contact with a 40-year-old female at a neighboring house who stated she had just been brutally assaulted by her tenant, according to Fournier. Police said, Juan Carlos Tovar Cruz, who had just recently been allowed to rent a room at that residence, began assaulting the female victim around 7:00 p.m. Saturday, October 29, 2016.
Troopers said that at one point Cruz tied her to her bed and then grabbed a kitchen knife and began cutting her about the legs, throat, and hands. Fournier said once the assault was over, Cruz untied her and left the bedroom which gave her time to flee and run to a neighbor’s house where they called 9-1-1. She was then transported by Emergency Medical Services to Nanticoke Memorial Hospital where she was treated and eventually released with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
In the course of this investigation, troopers responded to the victim’s residence where they located an unidentified male subject in the driveway. Sussex County Paramedics responded to the scene and pronounced the victim dead deceased. The Delaware Division of Forensic Science was contacted and removed the male victim, who was later identified as Ricardo Perez-Ramirez, 30 of Georgetown. An autopsy was conducted on Monday, October 31, 2016, which ruled the death a homicide by blunt force trauma to the head, according to Fournier.
Delaware State Police Homicide Detectives took over the case and upon searching the house, located documents in the bedroom of Cruz which positively identified him. On Sunday, October 30, 2016 at approximately 11:15 p.m. troopers made contact with Cruz in the area of Concord Road (Rt. 20) west of County Seat Highway (Rt. 9), Seaford as a call was made for a suspicious person in the area. Cruz was taken into custody without incident and transported to Troop 4 Georgetown, where he was charged with one count of Assault 1st Degree and Possession of a Deadly Weapon during the Commission of a Felony. He was arraigned at JP3 and committed Sussex Correctional Institution in default of $80,000.00 cash bond.
On November 1, 2016, Homicide Detectives said they were able to link Cruz to the murder and charged him with Murder 1st and Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the Commission of a Felony. He was arraigned at JP3 and remains incarcerated at SCI on an additional 2,500,000.00 cash bond.