Less than a week after two teenage brothers were arrested in the murder of a New Jersey man who was found stabbed to death in the woods in Bucks County, the victim’s grieving family continues to search for answers as investigators work to determine a motive.
On Thursday, shortly after midnight, a Pennsylvania State Trooper spotted what appeared to be a disabled silver Subaru with its blinkers on near a wooded area along the 500 block of East Pumping Station Road in Richland Township, Pennsylvania. The trooper also found an Audi A5 parked about 100 feet away from the Subaru.
As the trooper walked toward the Subaru, he found Joshua Gamble, 17, of Somerset, New Jersey, lying on the ground in a wooded area, according to investigators. The teen, who did not respond when the trooper identified himself, had blood on his shoes and was wearing a plastic-coated work glove on his left hand while a similar right-handed glove was found on the ground, police said.
Gamble was also holding a Subaru key fob that was stained with blood, according to investigators.
As troopers detained Gamble they heard the sound of a man running in the woods nearby. The man, later identified as 19-year-old Anthony Gamble, Joshua Gamble’s older brother, then emerged and ran toward the Subaru before being detained by the troopers, police said.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox.> Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
Anthony Gamble had blood on his shoes and shirtsleeve, according to investigators. Police also said they found two coated gloves in his pockets.
Police then found a large amount of blood in the Audi and requested backup. They then entered the woods and discovered the body of Kevin Rosero, 26, of Plainfield, New Jersey. Rosero had stab wounds on his head, neck, chest and arm.
Police also found a large and bloody knife as well as two cellphones and sanitizing wipes inside the Audi.
U.S. & World
Investigators later determined Joshua Gamble bought the wipes and gloves from a nearby 7-Eleven about 20 minutes before police arrived at the scene.
Both brothers were arrested and charged with criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy, possession of an instrument of crime and tampering with evidence. Joshua Gamble is also being charged as an adult.
“The Gamble brothers have no apparent connection to this area, being Richland,” Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said. “Obviously this case is ongoing, I can’t predict the future, I don’t know what other facts will be revealed to us, but as of right now, we are unable to discern any reason for them to be in Bucks County, in Richland Township.”
As police continue to investigate, Kevin Rosero’s heartbroken loved ones are trying to make sense of the tragedy.
“Nobody is going to bring back my son,” Rosero’s father, Marcelo Rosero, told Telemundo 62. “We have to make justice for my son.”
Rosero’s family said they don’t know the Gamble brothers.
“We never heard of them,” Marcelo Rosero said. “We don’t know how these people just showed up and murdered my son.”
Loved ones described Kevin Rosero, a Rutgers University graduate, as a beacon of light and activist for several causes, including immigration reform, Black Lives Matter and animal rights.
Other friends and family members said Rosero was a kind and selfless man with a promising future.
“He never saw race, color or religion. He had a way to bring everyone together,” Alma Blanco, an activist and friend of Rosero’s, told NBC10. “I believe he will live with us for us to continue that light that he carried.”