A convicted felon on probation is wanted for questioning in the fatal shooting of a Puerto Rican Olympian’s mother in Connecticut, police said Tuesday.
Levi Brock, 34, of New Haven, is being sought as a person of interest in Saturday’s shooting that killed Mabel Martinez Antongiorgi, 56, who was fatally struck in the head by a stray bullet as she sewed inside her Waterbury home.
Antongiorgi was the mother of Yarimar Mercado Martinez, a 27-year-old rifle shooter on the Puerto Rican Olympic team who competed last year in Tokyo. She was not the intended target in the drug-related shooting, Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo told reporters Tuesday.
At least 23 shots were fired between two vehicles — a white Acura and a black Honda — outside Antongiorgi’s home. A 35-year-old man, Ryan Lindsay, was shot in the hip and survived, Spagnolo said.
Police said Levi Brock was identified as the driver of the black Honda. Waterbury Police Department
Levi Brock, 34, of New Haven, is being sought as a person of interest in Saturday’s shooting.
Yarimar Mercado Martinez and her relatives are struggling to process Mabel Martinez Antongiorgi’s death. Facebook / Yarimar Mercado MartiLindsay was later questioned by detectives, who learned the gunfire stemmed from a drug-related dispute, police said.
The owner of Acura, Angel Gonzalez, 22, was later located along with his car in Waterbury and was interviewed by investigators, Spagnolo said.
Brock was later identified as the driver of the black Honda, which has been located and seized in New Haven. A handgun was also recovered from the vehicle and was being tested to determine if it was involved in the deadly shooting, police said.
Yarimar Mercado Martinez and her relatives are requesting privacy. Facebook / Yarimar Mercado Marti
Police believe Mabel Martinez, 56, was an innocent bystander. Yarimar Mercado Martinez/Faceboo
Mabel Martinez Antongiorgi was killed by a stray bullet. Yarimar Mercado Martinez/Faceboo“There’s a strong indication he may be involved,” Waterbury police spokesman Lt. Ryan Bessette told The Post.
Brock has numerous prior felony convictions, including reckless endangerment, cruelty to animals and drug charges. In 2011, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for felony assault, with nine years suspended, Bessette said.
He violated his probation in 2018 due to a narcotics offense and was sentenced to six years in prison, but was currently out on probation, Bessette said.
Gonzalez, who is also considered a person of interest in the shooting, is cooperating with police in the ongoing investigation, as well as Lindsay, Spagnolo said.
“We are asking anybody, anywhere, if they have information on his whereabouts to please contact the Waterbury Police Department,” the chief said of Brock.
Yarimar Mercado Martinez competed last year in Tokyo’s Olympic games. Facebook / Yarimar Mercado Marti
Yarimar Mercado Martinez, of Puerto Rico, competes during the women’s 50-meter Rifle 3 Positions qualification during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File
Yarimar Mercado Martinez is a 27-year-old rifle shooter on the Puerto Rican Olympic team. Jan Woitas/picture alliance via Getty ImagesNo arrests had been made in the shooting as of early Tuesday. Spagnolo said he was dismayed that a convicted felon was being eyed in the deadly gunfire.
“What disturbs me is, yet again, we have another convicted felon, that’s on probation, that’s in possession of a gun, that’s involved in someone’s death,” Spagnolo told reporters. “It’s a broken record. We hear it time and time again in every urban community in this state and we need to take a look at that.”
Mercado Martinez and her relatives are requesting privacy as they struggle to process Antongiorgi’s tragic death, Spagnolo said.
Police believe the intended target was apparently a man walking outside Mabel Martinez Antongiorgi’s home in the town of Waterbury. Yarimar Mercado Martinez/Faceboo
Mabel Martinez Antongiorgi was the mother of Yarimar Mercado Martinez. Facebook / Yarimar Mercado Marti“You taught me the motto ‘everything happens for a reason,’ and I applied it in every difficult situation in my life,” Mercado Martinez wrote on Facebook Monday. “But, this time? This time I don’t know how to apply it, mommy, can you help me please? I really need to understand it.”






