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2 men charged with June 12 shooting that left York woman severely injured in North Codorus Township

Robert Rodriguez III and Francisco Rivera are accused of shooting Meredith Keltner and leaving her lying on Indian Rock Dam Road. Rodriguez is in custody, police say

YORK, Pa. — Police have arrested one suspect and charged another in a June 12 shooting that left a 27-year-old woman severely wounded and lying on the road in North Cordorus Township.

Robert Rodriguez III, 20, of the 200 block of East Poplar Street, Spring Grove, was arrested Monday and charged with criminal attempted homicide, criminal conspiracy to commit attempted homicide, and two counts of aggravated assault, according to Northern York County Regional Police. 

A second suspect, Francisco A Torres Rivera, 28, is also facing the same charges, police say. Investigators are still trying to locate him.

The two men are accused of shooting Meredith Keltner on the night of June 12, leaving her lying wounded in the area of Smyser Road and Indian Rock Dam Road.

Keltner was struck by gunshots in the neck, back, buttocks, thigh, and foot, police say. Police believe that after she was shot, she was also run over by the vehicle she was riding in, resulting in additional injuries to her ribs and pelvis.

Credit: Northern York County Regional Police
Meredith Celest Wilson Keltner

As she was being transported from the scene to York Hospital in an ambulance, Keltner told a police officer she believed she was going to die from her wounds and reported she had been shot by two Hispanic men.

"There was a dispute between the three of them," Northern York County Regional Police Chief, Dave Lash, said. "We don't know exactly what that dispute is, but my understanding is these three individuals are known to use drugs. But I can't say for certain that it's drug-related."

Police collected four .40-caliber shell casings from the crime scene, along with personal items believed to be Keltner's that were strewn along the roadway. They also recovered a car part that was later determined to be from the undercarriage of a 2004-2010 Mazda 3, according to the criminal complaint affidavit.

RELATED: Police identify York woman found shot in North Codorus Township

Keltner survived the shooting, and in an interview with police on June 29 at York Hospital, was able to provide investigators with additional information.

Keltner told police:

  • On the night of June 11, Keltner spent the night at a York County hotel with a Hispanic man she knew as "Rodriguez." When they woke on June 12, she and "Rodriguez" drove to York City, where they picked up a second man known to her as "Esteban."
  • "Rodriguez" then drove Keltner and "Esteban" to a remote location in North Codorus Township, where he forced her to exit the vehicle.
  • Fearing for her life, Keltner complied and began walking away from the car. One of the men inside exited the vehicle and told her to stop. As she began to turn around and look back, the man opened fire with a handgun, hitting her multiple times.
  • At that point, Keltner said, she began to black out and has no memory of what happened next. 
  • When asked which man shot her, Keltner told police she thought it was "Esteban" but said she could not be sure.

"We're still working through the details of exactly who fired the shots," Lash said. "And who operated the car. But they both were involved in one or the other assaults."

Police say they returned to interview Keltner again on July 1. In that interview, she told them she spent the night with two men at a home on the 200 block of East Princess St. in York. She identified the men as "Esteban," one of the men who was in the car with her on the night of the shooting, and "Todd," who lived in the home. She said she left some personal items in "Todd's" room, where "Esteban" also stayed. She was able to describe the room and its location in the home to police.

In another interview on July 2, Keltner told police that "Esteban" and at least two other people who lived in the home were known to sell crack cocaine and "Esteban" was known to keep crack cocaine in his room. 

Police say they served search warrant on the home on July 7. They recovered some of Keltner's clothing in the room she identified as "Todd's," along with birth certificates belonging to Rivera and another man and a letter to a fourth resident of the home.

Police say they also spoke to a resident and caretaker of the building, who said he knew Keltner and was communicating with her on the day she was shot. The witness said he saw Keltner enter a vehicle with Rodriguez and Torres Rivera, who were known to him, on the night of the shooting. When Rodriguez and Rivera returned later that night, Keltner was not with them, the witness said.

"We're still working on the 'why.' We know the 'how'. We know the 'where.' We're still working on the 'why,'" Lash said.

The witness also reported he later found the burned remains of a cell phone in the home's back yard after Keltner was shot, police say. He took a photo of the remains before cleaning them up, and provided that photo to police, according to the complaint.

The witness identified Rodriguez as the owner of the vehicle Keltner entered with the two men, a 2004 Mazda 3 hatchback, police say.

Police say they located the vehicle parked behind another home on the 200 block of East Princess Street. After obtaining a search warrant, police impounded the vehicle. As they were in the process of towing it, the vehicle's owner appeared and questioned police. The man matched the physical description of "Rodriguez" provided by Keltner, police say.

After processing the vehicle, police say, they determined the car part recovered from the crime scene came from the underside of Rodriguez's Mazda 3. They also recovered hair matching the victim's and possible blood evidence from the underside of the car, police say.

Keltner was able to identify Rodriguez and Rivera, whom she knew as "Esteban," from photo lineups provided by police, the complaint states. She said Rodriguez drove the vehicle, and Rivera was in the back seat.

"The justice in this is for Meredith Keltner," Lash said. "This is a traumatic event no matter what this dispute was over. No person deserves to be shot, ran over by a car, and left for dead along the road."

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