Community leader murdered: suspected shooter points to councilman

The investigation into the shooting death of 52-year-old community leader José Frank Valerio has taken a new turn in the Dominican Republic. Authorities are pursuing fresh leads after the 19-year-old suspect, identified as José Enrique Corniel Jerez, implicated a local municipal councilman (regidor).

According to the suspect's statement, the official allegedly paid him to carry out the attack. The emergence of an intellectual author in the case shifts the focus of the ongoing police inquiry from a direct confrontation to a contract killing involving local political figures.