Providence police identify man killed in Mother’s Day cookout shooting

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Providence police identified the victim of the city’s fifth homicide of the year on Tuesday.

Police said 44-year-old Angel Rodriguez was fatally shot at a Mother’s Day cookout at a Manton Avenue home.

Maj. David Lapatin said the suspect, 51-year-old Luis Sepulveda, brought a friend with him who did not get along with Rodriguez.

The men got into an argument that escalated throughout the night.

Police say Sepulveda fired several shots into the air on his way out of the party, including one that hit Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital, where he later died.

Police launched a search for a Dodge Caravan with North Carolina plates initially believed to have fled the scene.

After questioning, police found that a group of people in the van had been waiting for Sepulveda outside the house, and didn’t know what happened.

Sepulveda was charged with first degree murder.

Police said he is from Rhode Island, but moved to North Carolina. He has a criminal record that goes back to the 1990s.

The shooting marked the city’s fifth homicide of the year.