Suspect arrested in November kidnapping and murder of Doral man tied to Venezuelan gang – NBC 6 South Florida
Nearly two months after a Doral man was kidnapped and murdered and had his apartment ransacked by armed home invaders, one of the suspects allegedly responsible has been arrested, authorities said.
Yurwin Salazar-Maita, 23, is facing first-degree murder, armed home invasion, kidnapping, and carjacking charges in the Nov. 28 killing of 43-year-old Jose Luis Sanchez-Valera, an arrest warrant said.
According to the warrant, Sanchez-Valera had gone to a hotel in Miami to meet a woman the night of Nov. 27.
Surveillance video from the hotel showed him leaving the hotel and getting into his Toyota 4Runner as three suspects in dark clothing emerged from a silver sedan and physically removed him from the driver’s seat, the warrant said.
Sanchez-Valera was forcibly placed in the back seat of his SUV as the suspects fled, the warrant said.
Hours later, a home invasion robbery was reported at Sanchez-Valera’s apartment in the 6400 block of Northwest 102 Path in Doral.
According to the warrant, two armed males entered Sanchez-Valera’s apartment and demanded jewelry from Valera’s roommate. They also took a safe from Sanchez-Valera’s bedroom and fled in the silver sedan, the warrant said.
After the home invasion robbery, the roommate contacted Sanchez-Valera’s son, who was able to track Sanchez-Valera’s location with a phone app.
Sanchez-Valera’s “blood splattered” 4Runner was discovered at Northwest 28th Street and Northwest 37th Avenue with his body in the back seat. He had his hands and feet bound, the warrant said.
A medical examiner later determined Sanchez-Valera had been choked to death and ruled the death a homicide, the warrant said.
The roommate identified the woman Sanchez-Valera had gone to meet at the hotel, and was able to identy one of the suspects in the home invasion as an acquaintance from their home country of Venezuela, the warrant said.
According to the warrant, The roommate also said that during the home invasion, one of the suspects told him they were from “Tren De Aragua,” a violent Venezuelan street gang currently operating in the United States, according to the FBI.
Investigators were able to identify Salazar-Maita as a suspect in the crimes, after a fingerprint from the 4Runner matched his, and cell phone data showed he’d been at the hotel, the warrant said.
Salazar-Maita, of Pompano Beach, was booked into the Miami-Dade jail on Tuesday. He appeared in court Wednesday where he was ordered held without bond and appointed a public defender.
Police haven’t said if any other suspects were being sought or if any other arrests have been made in the case.
