HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A man charged in a drive-by shooting that killed a woman and her 4-month-old baby in Connecticut was ordered held on $5 million bail Monday, as a newly released arrest warrant alleged the woman owed him $400 in rent for the use of his SUV.
Lance “Macho” Morales, 23, made his first appearance in state court in Hartford in the Nov. 19 killings of Jessiah Mercado, 20, of Springfield, Massachusetts, and her son, Messiah Diaz. A third person was shot but survived, and a fourth person in the vehicle was not injured.
Morales, of Waterbury, Connecticut, is charged with murder, assault and other crimes. He was extradited on Saturday to Connecticut from Puerto Rico, where he was arrested on Nov. 23. He could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.
Police alleged in the arrest warrant that Morales pulled up next to the vehicle the victims were in and opened fire in broad daylight in Hartford, after a brief exchange with Mercado in which she told him her baby was in the SUV. Morales replied, “I don't care,” according to a witness quoted by police in the warrant.
Authorities said in the warrant that they believe the shooter's firearm was fully automatic.
Morales' lawyer at the hearing did not directly respond to the allegations, saying only that Morales could not afford to post the $5 million bail and he is a lifelong Connecticut resident.
The arrest warrant said Mercado was renting a Mazda SUV from Morales for $100 a day and fell behind on the payments, owing him $400.
Morales was previously convicted of an unrelated attempted assault and has several other pending criminal cases in the state. His next court date was set for Jan. 8.
During Monday's hearing, a man in the courtroom yelled at Morales. Relatives of the victims declined to comment outside of court.
In this photo provided by the Hartford Connecticut Police, Lance Morales sits in a police vehicle in Puerto Rico, Nov. 19, 2024. (US Marshals Service/Hartford Connecticut Police, via AP)
In this photo provided by the Hartford Connecticut Police, officers arrest Lance Morales in Puerto Rico, Nov. 19, 2024. (US Marshals Service/Hartford Connecticut Police, via AP)
In this photo provided by the Hartford Connecticut Police, Lance Morales sits in a police vehicle in Puerto Rico, Nov. 19, 2024. (US Marshals Service/Hartford Connecticut Police, via AP)
In this photo provided by the Hartford Connecticut Police, officers arrest Lance Morales in Puerto Rico, Nov. 19, 2024. (US Marshals Service/Hartford Connecticut Police, via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are falling Thursday to start 2025.
The S&P 500 was down 0.7% in afternoon trading after rising as much as 0.9% earlier. It's coming off a four-day losing streak, its longest since early September, which dimmed the end of its stellar 2024.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 273 points, or 0.6%, as of 12:51 p.m. Eastern time, after an earlier gain of 360 points disappeared. The Nasdaq composite was 0.8% lower.
Stocks of the smallest companies did better than the rest of the market, as they often do when optimism is rising about the U.S. economy. They can get a larger benefit than big multinationals, and the Russell 2000 index of small stocks rose 0.1% after a report said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected.
It's the latest signal that the job market remains remarkably solid despite high interest rates brought by the Federal Reserve in recent years to stifle inflation. After surprising doubters by avoiding a recession last year, the hope is that the U.S. economy can continue growing in 2025 after the Fed reduced the pressure on it by recently lowering interest rates.
Several Big Tech stocks, which have been leading Wall Street for most of the last few years, were doing well. Nvidia, whose chips are powering the world’s move into artificial-intelligence technology, rose 1% after following up its nearly 240% surge in 2023 with a better than 170% jump last year.
Some investors and analysts are counting on the AI rush to continue, even though critics say it’s sent prices for some stocks too high too quickly. As the calendar flips to a new year, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives says it’s the ”same tech playbook in year 3 of this tech AI driven bull market,” for example.
Such optimism, of course, can also make contrarians feel nervous.
A measure of how heavily Wall Street analysts are recommending stocks is at its highest level since early 2022, according to Bank of America strategist Savita Subramanian. She says the measure has been a reliable contrarian indicator in the past, and it’s just a bit shy of triggering a signal to sell for those who are leery when much of Wall Street rushes in the same direction.
One member of the group of vaunted Big Tech stocks known as the “Magnificent Seven,” Tesla, slumped after it disclosed it delivered fewer vehicles in the last three months of 2024 than analysts expected. The electric-vehicle company’s stock fell 6.9%.
In the bond market, Treasury yields edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to to 4.58% from 4.57% late Tuesday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell 2.2% in Hong Kong and 2.7% in Shanghai after a survey of factory managers showed Chinese activity expanding at a slower pace in December. New orders, employment and business sentiment weakened.
Upbeat talk by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in a New Year’s address did little to raise optimism among investors who are hoping for more aggressive action to support the world's second-largest economy and boost stock prices.
“We have adopted a full range of policies to make solid gains in pursuing high-quality development. China’s economy has rebounded and is on an upward trajectory,” Xi said in a New Year message, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Stock indexes were mostly higher elsewhere in Asia and Europe.
Commodity prices rallied. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 2.3% to $73.39, while Brent crude, the international standard, gained 2% to $76.17.
Natural gas climbed 3.5%, and gold added 1% to $2,667.10 per ounce.
AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed.
FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is shown in New York's Financial District on Dec. 31, 2024. American flags flew at half-staff there following the death of former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
FILE - People pass the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
FILE - Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
FILE - A sign outside the New York Stock Exchange marks the intersection of Wall and Broad Streets, Dec. 12, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
