Man faces judge in murder of Rochester teen who went missing for more than a month

Rochester, New York – Reign Tapiato, the man accused of killing Jakarah Lopez-Moore, appeared before a judge on Monday, over six months after the young woman went missing and was subsequently found dead.

Lopez-Moore, according to Rochester police, left her Weld Street home on August 27 and never came back. According to court documents, Tapiato, 27, is charged with bringing the 16-year-old girl into a wooded location and shooting her once in the head that same morning, perhaps between 3:15 and 5:00 a.m. He was detained last Friday, according to the police, with a loaded Glock handgun.

In the days that follow Monday’s proceedings, Tapiato’s case will be brought before a grand jury. There, jurors will learn more about the evidence used by the prosecution against him and decide whether to charge him with Lopez-Moore’s murder.

If the case proceeds to trial, Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Michael Caranante anticipates it will take place over the next six to nine months.

“At this point, because of the sensitivity of the grand jury presentation, I don’t want to touch too much on the nature of the evidence, but I do believe more details about that as the court process unfolds,” Caranante states. “I feel confident the evidence will show that Mr. Tapiato did kill Jakarah Lopez and feel confident that I can secure a conviction.”

Clark Zimmerman, a defense attorney, was given the case.