Aug. 12, 2013: Daniel Rodriguez is put into a squad car outside police headquarters in Johnston, R.I. (AP)
WARWICK, R.I. – A man charged with killing his girlfriend and her adult daughter and then kidnapping her 2-year-old son was ordered held without bail Tuesday by a Rhode Island judge.
Daniel Rodriguez, 28, made his first court appearance in Kent District Court to face two counts of murder as well as burglary, kidnapping and gun charges. Judge Joseph T. Houlihan Jr. ordered that he be held without bail and set a bail hearing for Aug. 27.
Rodriguez is charged with fatally shooting 40-year-old Evelyn Burgos and 25-year-old Vanessa Perez in Johnston on Sunday and abducting Burgos' son, Isaiah Perez. Authorities issued an Amber Alert for the boy, who was later found wandering around a public housing complex alone in Providence. He was unharmed.
Rodriguez was arrested Sunday in Providence. Authorities have said they are not sure how Isaiah Perez ended up by himself in the city.
Police have not offered a motive in the killings.
Burgos had broken off her relationship with Rodriguez, her brother, Alonzo Pichardo, told WJAR-TV.
"He couldn't comprehend that she didn't want to be with him," he said. "She was afraid. She told one of my other siblings that she was afraid."
Pichardo also said Rodriguez had what he called an obsession with Isaiah Perez, though he was not the boy's father.
"He would tell everybody that Isaiah was his," Pichardo said.
In court Tuesday, Rodriguez gave the Johnston home where the killings took place as his address, though Johnston police say he broke into the house before the killings. They have not given an address for him.
Rodriguez did not have an attorney and was referred to the public defender's office. He had no comment Monday after an initial arraignment at the police station in Johnston, a town of about 28,000 residents about 10 miles from Providence.
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