On July 15, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan announced a 17-year-old charged as an adult in a homicide that occurred in Whitehall Township will face all charges in Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas. Elijah Ceballos, of Whitehall, waived his preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Rashid Santiago.

Ceballos is charged with felony counts of criminal homicide, firearms not to be carried without a license and misdemeanor charges of possession of a firearm by a minor and possessing instruments of crime.

Ceballos remains in Lehigh County Jail without bail. His next hearing will be a formal arraignment, planned for 9 a.m. July 23 before Judge James T. Anthony.

Ceballos is charged in a killing that occurred May 28. On that date around 5:07 p.m., Whitehall Township police were called to a shooting at the home of Fernando Guerreo Tabera, 5115 Third St., Cementon.

Guerreo Tabera, 74, was found on an outside patio chair with multiple gunshot wounds to his torso, leg and chin. First responders provided lifesaving measures, but Guerrero Tabera succumbed to his injuries.

Guerreo Tabera’s death was due to multiple gunshot wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide by the Lehigh County coroner.

The investigation included home surveillance footage that showed the victim sitting on his porch facing the street. A person, later identified as Ceballos, was spotted on the video wearing a dark-colored hoodie, jeans and boots. The video shows Ceballos point a gun at the victim and walk away with the weapon still in his hand.

Investigators found 16 spent 9 mm shell casings on the street and on the patio in front of the victim.

A witness told police he believed Ceballos may have taken a firearm from his home that had been used in the shooting. The witness said Ceballos had entered the home after the shooting.

That witness consented to a search of their home in the 5300 block of Main Street, a few blocks away from where the shooting occurred.

Inside the home, police found clothing similar to those worn by the shooter and a firearm that also appeared to be the one used in the shooting. The firearm contained an empty magazine that has a capacity of 17 9 mm bullets.

A second witness told police he heard the gunshots outside and saw Ceballos with a gun and ski mask. That witness took the gun away from Ceballos.

At the time of the shooting, Ceballos did not have a legal right to use or possess a firearm.

This case was investigated by Whitehall Township Police Detective Nicholas Stibrany and Lehigh County Homicide Task Force Detectives Kevin Mriss and James Bruchak and will be prosecuted by First Assistant District Attorney Patricia Fuentes Mulqueen.