NEW PHILADELPHIA (WBRE/WYOU) — It was an emotional day in Schuylkill County as an arrest was made in the murders of two teenagers from New Philadelphia.
The mothers of the victims confronted the accused killer.
The state police and district attorney held a news conference detailing the investigation and arrest of the murders last October. Officials answered questions that many people have been asking for the last eight months, especially the mothers of the murdered teens.
Lamour Branch, 19, said nothing as he walked out of District Court after being arraigned on homicide and other charges in the murders of 16-year-old Angelito Caraballo and 18-year-old Hunter Mock.
Their bodies were found in a wooded area near New Philadelphia last October.
While Branch wasn't talking, the mothers of the murdered teens lashed out at him.
"Tell me why you took my baby! You owe me that! You took them. Please tell me why you did this! I deserve to know this," Hunter Mock's mother Kate Mock shouted.
The teens' mothers say they are living a nightmare.
"I try to think of my son the way he was as well as Hunter. They were always happy. They were good boys," said Angelito Caraballo's Mother, Tanya Evans.
According to a criminal complaint, Branch shot Hunter Mock in the head and stabbed Caraballo to death. There was a third teenager in the woods that day, he was able to escape by running away He tells police he heard 10 to 30 gunshots as he ran for his life.
So what was the motive? State Troopers talked about the investigation at an afternoon news conference.
"We know that they were friends. With regards to motive, I'm not going to get into that, but I will, you know, generally speaking, we don't need a notice in order to prove our case," Schuylkill County District Attorney Mike O'Pake explained.
This was the first time the victims' mothers were so close to the man who allegedly killed their sons.
The families of the murdered teens got the arrest, but no answers as to why their sons were killed. The mothers just want to know why.
"No matter what, the lives of our children are gone, and to me, the way he was given the charge and his response was nothing, it's honestly ripping me apart," Kate said.
Branch is locked up without bail and is scheduled to have a hearing next week.
