Protest Seeks Justice for Slain New Philadelphia Teens

Tanya Evans and Kate Mock each said Thanksgiving was too much to bear this year. And they’re not looking forward to Christmas, either.

The holidays aren’t the same for these two mothers of slain New Philadelphia teens Angelito Caraballo and Hunter Mock. And not helping them find any sort of closure is the fact that the investigation into their October deaths seems to have stalled.

On Tuesday, Evans and Mock gathered with a few dozen other supporters along Laurel Boulevard in Pottsville, in the shadow of Schuylkill County Courthouse, to stage a protest against the lack of justice they perceive they’re getting for the sons they lost a couple months ago.

“We’re not actually doing Christmas on Christmas. Thanksgiving was hard for me,” Evans said Tuesday. “It’s just going to be way too hard. Thanksgiving was and I don’t want my other children to experience Christmas like that.”

Mock had a similar experience last month.

“Thanksgiving was rough,” she said, clearly getting overcome by the emotions of the memories not made this past holiday without her son. “It was horrible.”

Christmas will be even worse, the way she tells it.

“This will be the first year since my son was 2 years old that he’s not going to get the tree,” Mock said. “I don’t think me and my other son will even look at another tree this year.”

Mock described Hunter as the “leader” of their home. And that will make every day, especially the holidays, even tougher.

“It’s hard when it’s a family event and our leader’s not home,” she said.

Police Keeping a “Tight Lid” on Investigation

More important to Evans and Mock than the holiday traditions they’ll likely forgo this year is getting the justice they believe is deserved for the tragic deaths of their sons.

“It’s been a little over two months and nobody’s been arrested yet,” Evans told The Canary on Tuesday. “We have no answers because they have to keep a tight lid on it, is what they keep telling us.”

Since Mock and Caraballo were found dead in a wooded area outside New Philadelphia on Oct. 10, few details have been made public about the investigation into their deaths.

Mock’s mother was a bit more frank about her frustration over the pace of the police investigation.

“They’re (the police) are not communicating to the direct relatives,” Mock said, “which is just disrespectful.

The little the public knows is that Mock and Caraballo were apparently at this wooded location with two other men, Lamour Branch, 19, and Jahlique Sherwood, 19, on Oct. 8.

Police have heard a few he said-he said stories about what happened and how Mock was shot to death and Caraballo stabbed to death, based on details released in affidavits for search warrants, but no arrests have been made and police have not said anyone is currently a suspect in the case.

Evans said Tuesday that she hopes anyone “with the littlest bit of information” to come forward to State Police to aid their investigation and hopefully move toward a day when they can announce that charges have been filed in this case.

She urged potential witnesses “not to be scared” and that “the more information they get, it would help the case close sooner than later.”

In the meantime, the mothers are encouraged by the support they’ve received from the public and their closest supporters.

In front of the Courthouse, egged on by signs asking drivers to honk for justice, it seemed a car horn blasted every minute to show support for the mothers and the other protestors.

That show of support was encouraging for Evans.

“It actually makes me feel very good. I didn’t expect all of this,” Evans said. “He (Caraballo) was very well known.”

_{Photo: Coal Region Canary}

MORE COVERAGE OF THE NEW PHILADELPHIA MURDERS:

• Hearing for Lamour Branch on Burglary Charge Continued, Victim Has COVID
• Man Connected to New Philadelphia Shooting Free on Bond on Burglary Charge
• Branch Has Bail Reduced on Burglary Charges
• Details Revealed in New Philadelphia Homicide Case
• Police Rule Deaths in New Philadelphia as Homicides, Identify 2nd Victim
• One of the Deceased Found in New Philadelphia ID’d by Pottsville Schools
• 2 Found Dead in Wooded Area of New Philadelphia