Authorities in Pennsylvania said a 21-year-old man who allegedly killed an 18-year-old woman initially called police claiming that the victim had shot herself in the head, NBC10 Philadelphia reported. The suspect, identified as Ethan Nicholas Bastien, has since been charged with criminal homicide, which authorities said is a felony of the first degree.
In a press release, the Allentown Police Department said that officers responded to a home at 2010 West Green Street at 5:38 a.m. on October 2 after an individual called 911 claiming that a woman had shot herself in the head after taking a gun. Authorities said the individual who made that call was Bastien.
Authorities who responded to the scene found 18-year-old Sian Cartagena unconscious on a mattress in a bedroom on the second floor. Police said Cartagena had sustained life-threatening injuries when she was taken to the hospital. She was pronounced dead on October 4.
An autopsy that was conducted established the victim died from a gunshot wound, and the coroner ruled her manner of death as a homicide. A GoFundMe that was created by Cartagena’s mother, Dolores Cartagena, to help raise funds for her daughter’s funeral and other expenses stated that the 18-year-old was a “victim due to a domestic abusive relationship.”
“Sian just turned 18 on August 19 and had so many goals, dreams and plans for herself and her future, just stepping into becoming a young adult,” the post added.
Cartagena was said to be an aspiring model who loved makeup and doing hair. Her mother told The Express-Times that her deceased daughter “had a lot of different goals.” “People keep telling me who she was to them, that she had a kind soul. She really and truly did,” she added.
A family friend also said the deceased victim was “a free-spirited girl since birth”, adding that she was “loved by many.”
