BUCKS COUNTY, PA (KYW Newsradio) — A former Bucks County Jail correctional officer is charged with murder in New York.
Aaron Mayers, 25, of Doylestown, is indicted on charges including second-degree murder and gang assault in the first degree, along with 24-year-old Zahir Williams.
Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz says an “out-numbered victim was sucker-punched, viciously beaten unconscious, then mercilessly run over.”
The District Attorney’s Office says around 3:30 am on Oct. 20, Francisco Ortega, 50, was standing outside the driver's side of his car with the door open, arguing with Williams when another member of their group punched Ortega in the back of the head.
Investigators say when Ortega fell to the ground, Mayers, Williams, and two others repeatedly punched and kicked him.
They say Williams got into Ortega’s car, drove it around the block, and ran over Ortega as he was unconscious on the ground. The medical examiner says Ortega was still alive when Williams ran him over.
Mayers was hired at the Bucks County Jail in July 2022.
A spokesman for the county says Mayers had been suspended without pay when they learned of the investigation. He was fired on Monday, Dec. 11.