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Man ‘who buried girlfriend in shallow grave’ has two chilling tattoos behind his ears

Geovanni Otero, 29, began a high speed car chase through New York on Saturday after State Troopers tried to pull him over because his car was flagged as stolen from Virginia

A Philidelphia man who stands accused of murdering her is girlfriend was arrested in New York after police engaged in a high-speed chase through Westchester County, New York.
Geovanni Otero was arrested in New York after police engaged in a high-speed chase and subsequent crash(Image: US Marshals Service)

A man accused of murdering his girlfriend was arrested following a high-speed car chase through New York, which ended when he crashed his vehicle.

Geovanni Otero, 29, was allegedly driving a stolen car when New York state troopers attempted to pull him over. He sped off and officers chased him for a mile before he crashed the car and attempted to escape on foot.

Officers had been searching for Otero since Novermber 8 after the murder of his girlfriend Melody Rivera, 29.

Rivera was beaten to death and buried in a shallow grave near a park in Philadelphia’s Fox Chase neighbourhood.

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US Police arrested Otero for the murder of Melody Rivera, who’s name he has tattoed behind his ear (Image: US Marshals Service)

When they finally caught him, police found two chilling tattoos. Behind his left ear he had a larger dagger tattoo, behind his right was ‘Melody.’

When police caught him after the car chase, he initially gave a fake name, but was tied to the murder of Rivera using fingerprint analysis.

The case outline read: “Geovanni Otero is wanted by the Philadelphia Police Department and the United States Marshals Service (USMS) for homicide and other offenses after the discovery of the body of a 29-year-old female who was found bludgeoned to death in a shallow grave on November 8, 2024.

“The pair were last seen on October 31, 2024, at 7:00 pm on the 900 block of Sanger Street.”

Otero has a criminal history since he was 12 years old, and was recently released on a gun-related charge.

melody rivera
Melody Rivera’s family searched for her for six days before her body was discovered in a shallow grave (Image: Facebook)

Martha Lee Fred, the sister of Rivera, said she was loving, kind and funny. Rivera’s family spent six days looking for her after she disappeared. Martha Lee Fred, Rivera’s sister, said: “We looked for her for six days, and they confirmed for us today that the woman found in a shallow grave yesterday was my sister.

“We went every single day, hours, hours at a time looking for my sister. She didn’t deserve to be buried in a park. She didn’t deserve that.”

The motive for Rivera’s murder is currently unknown, but police believe it followed an arguement between Rivera and Otero.

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