LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A father accused of helping his teenage son cover up the murder of two teens entered a not guilty plea during his arraignment Friday.
47-year-old Jesus Reyes-Rodriguez appeared before a judge and pleaded not guilty to tampering with evidence in connection with the deaths of 15-year-old Aoun Basboos and 16-year-old Ali Naqvi.
Reyes-Rodriguez was released from custody in August after the Commonwealth failed to indict him in time. He has now been indicted but remains out of custody while his son sits behind bars.
His son, 18-year-old Jesus Reyes-Ocampo, is charged with murder and evidence tampering. Police believe the teenager shot and killed Basboos and Naqvi in May and hid the bodies.
Months later, Basboos' remains have yet to be found.
According to police, Reyes-Rodriguez became involved after the murder occurred.
During a preliminary hearing, a detective told the judge he believes Reyes-Rodriguez manipulated a vehicle tied to the crime at his business in northern Fayette County.
"There were attempts to clean blood out of the vehicle and the rear seat had been removed. Also, there was a firepit in the back of the business where it was possible a car seat from the vehicle had been burned, and there were seat belt clips that had been removed from the vehicle and found in that pit," detective Greg George said.
The father and son, now co-defendants, will both be back in court on November 20 for a pretrial conference.
