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June 30, 2008

Accused killer waives right to extradition hearing

PROVIDENCE -- Juan L. Diaz, who fled to Albany, N.Y., after being accused of murdering a woman in Pawtucket last week, has waived his right to an extradition proceeding, expediting his return to the state.

Diaz is expected to be picked up by Rhode Island sheriffs on Thursday and held over the July 4th weekend at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, said Michael J. Healey, a spokesman for the state Attorney General’s office.

He is expected to be arraigned in the murder case in District Court, Providence, on Monday, July 7.

Diaz, 24, is accused of shooting Mayra A. Cruz Wednesday in the basement apartment he occupied at 14 Reservoir Ave. The Rhode Island Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Thursday that Cruz, 26, of Galego Court, died of a single gunshot wound to the head.

According to Pawtucket police records, Diaz phoned the police and said he had shot Cruz accidentally during a struggle over a gun.

But Diaz fled before the police arrived at the basement apartment, setting off a manhunt that led to Albany, where he has family. He was picked up on the street in Albany after Pawtucket detectives traced a cell phone call he made to a girlfriend in the Prospect Heights housing project in Pawtucket.

Diaz is being held at the Albany County Correctional Facility. By waiving extradition, he gave up his right to have a court in New York determine whether the murder charge warranted handing him over to authorities in Rhode Island.

-- Journal staff writer John Castellucci

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 6:30 PM | Permalink

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