Suspect in 1991 New Bedford killing identified as deceased Dominican national with criminal history
Authorities have identified the killer in a decades-old homicide case out of New Bedford.
On October 25, 1991, 20-year-old Brent Davis of Newport, Rhode Island, was shot and killed at the Brickenwood Housing Project. 33 years later, the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office has identified Davis’s killer as Claudio Jorge.
Jorge, a Dominican national, had a lengthy criminal history and was shot and killed in the Dominican Republic in 2006 while being robbed, according to officials. He was 40 years old at the time of his death.
At the time of the 1991 homicide, witnesses identified the shooter as “Bobby” and a composite sketch of him was created.
Investigators at the time were able to find two relatives of the suspect who lived in New Bedford. They said “Bobby”, also known as “Reynaldo Suriel,” lived in New York City, but attempts to locate him were unsuccessful.
Trooper Katherine Sullivan, who is part of the Bristol County Cold Case Unit, conducted a follow-up investigation with witnesses to the shooting.
The witnesses reportedly revealed Davis’s murder was over a drug dispute and “Bobby,” aka Jorge, fled the area immediately afterward.
Davis had only been staying in New Bedford for a few days before his murder.
According to authorities, a key witness said he sold cocaine to “Bobby” and that “Bobby” had come to his girlfriend’s apartment immediately after killing Davis and admitted to it.
A follow-up interview with relatives of “Bobby” in New York revealed that “Bobby” was in fact Claudio Jorge. Jorge had been arrested previously for several violent crimes and narcotic offenses. He was arrested in 1983 in New York for armed robbery and a shooting, again in 1988 for drug and weapon offenses, and in 1992.
He was deported to the Dominican Republic in 1998.
An NYPD Dominican Republic Liaison detective visited the Jorge family residence in La Vega, Dominican Republic, and spoke with Jorge’s aunt, who said he was dead and provided an obituary card from 2006.
Trooper Sullivan found Davis’s mother in Newport, Rhode Island, and informed her investigators had identified her son’s murderer and that he was dead.
“I’m very pleased with the efforts of our Cold Case Unit, that after further investigation, has led to the identification of Claudio Jorge as the individual who murdered Brent Davis in 1991,” District Attorney Thomas Quinn said. “I’d like to thank Trooper Kate Sullivan for her efforts in the case that brought closure to the victim’s family after all these years. This case further shows our office does not give up on solving cold cases and will continue to put resources into investigations of cold case homicides.”
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