Reward set for tips in 2020 slaying of Puerto Rico native in Detroit

Mark Hicks, The Detroit News
·1 min read

Mar. 4—Crime Stoppers of Michigan announced a $2,500 reward Wednesday for tips in a shooting last year in Detroit that left a 19-year-old Puerto Rican native dead.

About 10 p.m. Feb. 20, 2020, Joshua Montanez-Rivera went to Varney and Ackley on the city's northeast side to accompany a friend "who was responding to his girlfriend's complaint of persistent unwarranted attention from an unknown male," officials said in a statement. "When the two arrived, fighting began."

Detroit police have said gunfire erupted during the altercation. Witnesses weren't clear where the shots came from, Crime Stoppers reported.

Montanez-Rivera was struck and fell to the ground. Medics responded and pronounced him dead.

The victim had arrived in Metro Detroit about four months earlier and worked for a demolition company, Crime Stoppers said.

"He was here to help his sister with her newborn child and save money to have his parents join them," the group said.

Anyone with information can anonymously submit tips at 1-800-SPEAK-UP and www.1800speakup.org.