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West Hartford woman held on $1 million bail in fatal shooting behind Bulkeley High School

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A West Hartford woman charged in a July 11 shooting death behind Bulkeley High School was arraigned Friday in Superior Court and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Cynthia Cruz, 23, was arrested Thursday on a murder charge in the death of Jorge Alicea, 34, of Hartford. Police also arrested 28-year-old Taichany Osorio on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

Members of Alicea’s family, including his mother and older sister Charin Alicea, and a friend came for the arraignment.

After the hearing, Charin Alicea spoke through tears about missing her younger brother, whom she called Jorgie.

She said Alicea was funny and almost impossible to stay mad at for long, and she still doesn’t understand why this happened to him.

“He was very loved, he had a big heart and there was no reason for this to have happened,” Charin Alicea said.

Surveillance cameras at the scene captured Alicea riding his bike down the sidewalk just before 12:30 p.m., according to court documents.

In the video, Alicea looks behind him and begins to pedal faster as a silver Toyota Camry approaches. The vehicle swerved, and Alicea pedals out of view.

A man and a woman appear to step out of the Camry, and the man hands the woman an object before they run toward Alicea.

Other cameras show Alicea collapse and fall off his bike in the back parking lot. The two people from the Camry then show up and stand over him before walking away.

Police tracked the Camry to Osorio’s mother. They found the vehicle with another man who knew Osorio and said she had asked to switch vehicles. Police then arrested Osorio.

A witness who was at the scene later came forward who, along with Osorio, helped to identify Cruz.

Cruz’s next court date is Aug. 8.

Lydia Gerike can be reached at lgerike@courant.com.