3 Charged In Murder-For-Hire Allegedly Sparked By Jealousy

COLUMBUS, Ind. (The Republic) — Authorities say three people, including an Illinois man, have been arrested in connection with a February slaying outside a central Indiana factory apparently motivated by the victim’s relationship with an ex-girlfriend of one of the suspects. The (Columbus) Republic reports investigators allege Leobardo Rodriguez Flores' fatal February shooting outside a Columbus factory was a murder-for-hire. Thirty-one-year-old Eliel Avelar of Midlothian, Illinois, is charged in Flores' killing. Court documents say a Columbus man, 35-year-old Abraham Jimenez Cesareo, paid Avelar to kill Flores after a 34-year-old woman, Eladia Jacobo-Ortiz, introduced him to Avelar. Both Ortiz and Cesareo are being held on charges of conspiracy to commit serious bodily injury.