Arrest made in Bronx burning car deaths: 'We are a step closer to justice'

THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11) -- Another suspect has been arrested in connection to the 2022 murders of Jesse Parrilla and Nikki Huang.

Parrilla and Huang, both 22-year-old friends, were fatally shot after getting caught up somehow in a gang dispute. Their bodies were left to burn in a torched car near the Pelham Bay and Split Rock Golf Courses in the Bronx.

Michelle Morales, Parrilla's mother, fought through her pain to show up at Bronx Criminal Court Tuesday, determined to face the suspect, Rahul Cuya, during his arraignment, only to find out it’s been delayed until sometime Wednesday.

"It's a lot to bear. This is the worst pain, the worst painful battle that any mother can face. But I will push my tears back and relive that day again to see justice," said Morales.

Nikki Huang, left and Jesse Parrilla, right (Credit: Family handouts)

Former PIX11 News reporter Mary Murphy reported extensively on this case and spoke with Huang’s mother last year.

"They burned her whole body up. I never got to see her again," said Amy Chan, the mother of Huang.

Cuya now joins fellow suspect Jahmel Sanders, who was arrested last spring.

There are also two other unidentified and indicted suspects who are already serving time upstate for unrelated crimes.

However, Steven Santiago, described as a major player in the murder plot, is still on the loose.

The men are alleged members of the “Down the Hill” gang.

"There are a lot of other individuals who had a hand in this," NYPD Detective John Soto told PIX11 News in 2023.

Detectives said it all started in May of 2022, when a group of people robbed Huang of her expensive Louis Vuitton handbag, and she then allegedly complained about the crime to a friend affiliated with the ”Up the Hill” gang, a rival to the “Down the Hill” gang.

A shootout between the two gangs took place hours after the robbery.

In an apparent act of retaliation, Santiago and his fellow “Down the Hill” gang members were allegedly waiting when Parrilla pulled up to Huang’s Lower East Side apartment to drop her off.

Morales said it hasn’t been easy watching the wheels of justice slowly turn toward some measure of accountability.

"It's a little frustrating. It's going slowly, but for sure, surely, without a doubt, we are a step closer to justice today ... to spend the rest of their lives in prison where they belong. Because he didn't deserve this," said Morales.