PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A 24-year-old Philadelphia man has been charged in four murders within the last month. Police say they are all connected to domestic relationships.
Officials say Edwin Vargas fired more than a dozen shots into the home of his ex-girlfriend in December, and a few days later on Jan. 3, he shot and killed 28-year-old Ceasar Santos as he sat in his car along Hunting Park Avenue near 9th Street.
The next day, police say Vargas again fired shots into the home of his ex-girlfriend.
Then on Jan. 9, they say, Vargas was among a group of three suspects who shot and killed three other men on Rowland Avenue near Cottman Avenue in Philadelphia’s Mayfair neighborhood. Christopher Batista, 18, Miguel Canales Delgado, 19, and Miguel Santos, 24, were killed, and a 28-year-old man was critically injured.
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Detectives took Vargas into custody, and they are still searching for the two other gunmen.
“Based on video we have, we believe there are two other individuals involved, so this investigation has not stopped,” said Staff Inspector Ernest Ransom, who leads the Philadelphia Police Department’s Homicide Unit.
Ransom credits tips from the public for Vargas’ arrest.
“If I can say anything to the public — please, we have put mechanisms in place that you can call us anonymously, so you can give us the information we need, so we can close these jobs and bring closure to families,” he said.
Ransom would not go into details, but he said the motive is domestic related.
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Vargas has three prior gun convictions: one as a 17-year-old, according to court records, and two as an adult. In a 2016 case, when Vargas was 18, Judge Scott DiClaudio sentenced him to just under two years in prison, plus five years of probation. In a 2019 case, which also included aggravated and simple assault charges, Judge Donna Woelpper sentenced Vargas to less time than the first: again, just under two years, plus only three years of probation.
Vargas has another contraband conviction from last year as well as several violations of probation.
He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Feburary.
Police urge the public to submit an anonymous tip if they know anything about any of the murders. Submit a tip by telephone or text at 215-686-8477, by email at tips@phillypolice.com, or via this form.