SUWANEE, Ga. – Police have made three arrests in the death of a 21 year old man whose body was found along a walking trail by children just a week earlier.
Gwinnett County Police officers charged 17-year-old Franecha Torres, 17-year-old Nicholas Evans and 18-year-old Khalil Miller with felony murder and armed robbery after they were initially tied to other robberies nearby.
Willian A. Tunchez's body was found along the back side of a home off Northcliff Drive in an unincorporated area of Gwinnett County near Suwanee just before 5 p.m. on Oct. 8. Police said a group of children found the body face-down on a walking trail.
Tunchez's father reported his son missing around noon on Monday. He told dispatchers he hadn't seen his son since the day before. Tunchez had dropped his younger brother off at home and said he was going to visit an uncle, but hadn't been seen since.
The uncle Tunchez planned to visit does not live in the area where his body was found, according to the Gwinnett County Police Department.
Photos: Dead body found behind Gwinnett County home
Tunchez' pickup truck was found parked alongside a curb a few houses down from where his body was found. An autopsy confirmed he had died from a gunshot wound.
It wasn't until Suwanee police shared information about three armed robberies in the same area that Gwinnett investigators caught wind of a new lead. Collaboration between the two departments and a tip on one of the teens' identities ultimately led to three arrests on Oct. 12.
Torres was initially charged with two counts of armed robbery. Evans and Miller were each initially charged with one count of armed robbery and aggravated assault. On Monday, police gathered enough evidence to add felony murder charges to the list for all three. Police believe the group lured Tunchez into a trap, shooting him to death for his cellphone and cash.
A close friend of the Tunchez family answered the door to the Tunchez home Tuesday, and said Tunchez's mother wanted 11Alive News to know that the family is praying for the suspects and for their families.
"We’re praying for those teenagers, because they are kids," Alicia Munguia said. "We lost a kid. But there are three more over there that, they have to suffer the consequences of what they’ve done."
Munguia described Tunchez as a devout Christian, active in his church along with his family, ministering to teenagers. She said he was working while going to college, studying for a degree in construction engineering, planning on helping his father in his construction business.
"He loved to help people. He loved to do a lot of stuff for other teenagers. He was always trying to help anybody that he would find in the street."
She said the family doesn't know whether Tunchez perhaps attempted to help the three teens in some way when, police say, they ended up attacking him.
"But we're praying for the families" of the three teens, Munguia said, "because I know that sometimes, parents, we don't know what the children do, and sometimes it hurts. We ask for mercy for them. We don't have no hate. We don't desire for them anything but that [their children] repent and know Jesus, so Willian is honored in the end.”
The homicide unit is still investigating his death. Anyone with information is asked to call Gwinnett County Police at 770-513-5300, or Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477.
