COLUMBUS, Ind. — An Illinois defendant accused of killing a local man is now facing several additional felonies and misdemeanors in Bartholomew Superior Court 1.
Eliel Avelar, 31 was originally facing one charge – murder – in the Feb. 26 shooting death of 37-year-old Leobardo Rodriguez Flores of Columbus. Flores was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head in the parking lot of Tool Dynamics, located on South Marr Road. Almost a month later, Avelar was arrested in Chicago and returned to Bartholomew County from a Cook County jail.
On Friday afternoon, Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash dismissed the original case against Avelar and filed a new case with seven additional felony charges added to the murder charge in Bartholomew Superior Court 1.
In addition to murder, Avelar now is also facing charges of armed robbery as a Level 3 felony; auto theft as a Level 6 felony; three separate counts of obstruction of justice as Level 6 felonies; intimidation as a Level 6 felony and unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien.
Nash also filed three Class B misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief against Avelar.
For more on this story, see Sunday’s Republic.
