WEST HAZLETON, Pa. — The District Attorney of Luzerne County, Stefanie J. Salavantis, announced on Friday that Giovanni Morales, Jr., 27, has been arrested and extradited from Connecticut for the murder of Jonathan Hernandez, 29, in June of 2020 in West Hazleton.
For more than three years, police repeatedly attempted to locate and apprehend Morales, who had been living under an alias in the New York metro area.
The manhunt became public, and Morales was added to the Pennsylvania State Police "Ten Most Wanted" list.
According to a press release, in November of 2023, he was arrested in Connecticut for armed robbery, and after providing a false name to Connecticut authorities, he was processed and identified as Morales.
Morales pled guilty to felony armed robbery and was sentenced to 18 months in the Connecticut case, according to the District Attorney; however, his sentence was stayed so that he could be transported to Luzerne County to stand trial for criminal homicide, robbery, and theft.
According to a criminal complaint, Morales came to Luzerne County for work and arrived on Wednesday, June 24, to stay with Hernandez. Over the next two days, both Morales and Hernandez worked at various construction sites around Luzerne County.
After work on Friday, June 26, the two men were seen together at various locations around West Hazleton.
Investigators uncovered surveillance video that depicts Morales and Hernandez returning to an address on Winters Avenue in West Hazleton around the time of the murder.
On the morning of Saturday, June 27, neither Morales nor Hernandez answered when their boss came to transport them to that day's job site.
Hernandez's boss returned to the Winters Avenue address to find Hernandez around 1 p.m. Upon entering the residence, he discovered Hernandez lying unresponsive on the floor with signs of physical trauma to his face.
An autopsy determined the cause of death to be multiple blunt force trauma and the manner of death a homicide.
Morales is in the Luzerne County Prison. His bail was denied, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 29th.