PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After two months at large, the man accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend in front of her 11-year-old son days before Christmas has been arrested by U.S. marshals. They say he was hiding in an abandoned house in Kensington.
According to the U.S. Marshals Service, 20-year-old Abiud Torres was apprehended shorty before 7 a.m. Thursday. He was wanted for the shooting death of 35-year-old Tatiana Vargas on Dec. 23, 2023, in Kensington.
Investigators said the pair had a verbal dispute and Torres shot her in front of her son, then fled. A warrant was issued that same day.
U.S. Marshals Service Supervisory Deputy Rob Clark said authorities knew Torres had strong ties to Virginia and Delaware, but they started to receive tips from the public that he had been hiding out in abandoned houses in Kensington. Officers combed through the area and eventually found him in an abandoned property on Hart Lane, near Kensington Avenue.
“Through the past week, we just really felt we had some good spots that he could be frequenting, and those were abandoned houses,” he said. “That’s exactly what we did this morning. We took 30 Investigators out, we went from abandoned house to abandoned house, and he was in one of them.”
Clark said Torres was unarmed and arrested without incident.
“Abiud Torres committed a senseless, tragic crime, against a woman who had her whole life ahead of her,” Clark added in a statement. “I am hoping this arrest can bring some closure to the Vargas family and all who knew Tatiana Vargas.”