Gracie Landa is an alleged teen killer from Florida who has been charged with the murder of Christopher Piedrasanta-Perez in North Carolina
According to police reports Gracie Landa was reported missing from her home in Florida two years ago. A year after her disappearance it was believed that she was in Durham North Carolina
Christopher Piedrasanta-Perez would be fatally shot and two women inside of a vehicle with him were injured. Surveillance videos from the area would show two people shooting into the vehicle
Police have not said how Gracie Landa is tied to the case or whether or not she was one of the shooters. However the teen has been charged with murder
Gracie Landa News
A teenager who was reported missing more than two years ago was arrested Tuesday in a deadly May shooting near a Durham park, court records show.
According to the Durham Police Department, the shooting happened on May 30 around midnight in the 1600 block of Rowemont Drive near the entrance of Whippoorwill Park. Officers found three people, a man and two women, inside a vehicle with gunshot wounds
The man, identified as 23-year-old Christopher Piedrasanta-Perez of Durham, died from his injuries, according to police.
A warrant filed by Durham police shows 18-year-old Gracie Landa was identified as a suspect. She is charged with murder in the death of Piedrasanta-Perez.
The warrant does not say if Landa is also suspected of shooting the two women.
Landa was reported missing from her home in Tampa, Fl. on June 27, 2023. At the time of her disappearance, she was 16, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
While Gracie Landa was missing, officials said they had reason to believe she was traveling to Durham.
According to court records, Landa was not given bond. She made her first appearance in Durham County Court on Wednesday morning and is scheduled to return on Sept. 11.
Perez’s family told CBS 17 he was a Southern High School graduate and worked at a FedEx warehouse. He leaves behind three siblings.
“He was just a fun brother, friend, grandson, and son to be around,” said Perez’s mother Amalia. “Always with that big smile.”
According to Perez’s mother, her son parked his car near Whippoorwill Park after delivering for DoorDash. That’s when several people came out of the woods and started shooting at them, killing Perez and injuring the two women.
“He was my first baby,” she said. “Since everything happened, there’s not been a day where I don’t go see his grave. We’re always there. It’s just been so hard, we haven’t stopped going to see him.”
Perez’s mother said an investigator told her there are more suspects at large. She feels a little better because one suspect has been arrested, but has plenty of unanswered questions.
Gracie Landa More News
An Alamance County teenager was arrested Monday on a charge of murder in a May shooting in northern Durham.
Gracie Elizabeth Faye Landa, 18, of Burlington is accused of killing Christopher Piedrasanta-Perez, 23, of Durham on May 30, according to the arrest warrant.
Piedrasanta-Perez was one of three people shot inside a vehicle on Rowemont Drive in the Braggtown area about 12:30 a.m. May 30, The News & Observer previously reported.
Two women were also injured in the shooting, but court documents don’t specify if Landa was in the car that night or how investigators believe she is connected to Piedrasanta-Perez’s death.
Piedrasanta-Perez and two friends were sitting in a car near Whipporwill Park when two or three people approached, fired shots into the car and left, according to an investigative report by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
At least 40 casings, including a mix of 9 mm and .223 rifle casings, were found at the scene, the report states. Piedrasanta-Perez was killed by a gunshot wound to the head, according to his autopsy.
In 911 calls released to The N&O, one of the callers said she was in the car and had been shot at least 10 times.
Gracie Landa previously had gone missing from her Tampa home in June 2023, with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children stating a year later they believed the then-17-year-old had traveled to Durham. Authorities never publicly announced she’d been found, but a search for Landa on Wednesday morning generated no results on the center’s website.
Durham police have yet to publicly announce Gracie Landa’s arrest as of Wednesday morning. She remained in the Durham County jail without bail Wednesday.
Piedrasanta-Perez was the first grandchild of 10 and was described in a fundraiser as a “kind soul” who “brought light and comfort to his family.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/young-man-shot-dead-northern-132946473.html
