Dec. 24 (UPI) — Police in Miami said a real estate agent and “suspected serial killer” was arrested after one homeless man was killed and another was seriously injured.
Miami Police Department Interim Chief Manuel Morales said at a Thursday news conference that Willy Suarez Maceo, 25, was arrested and is being investigated as a “suspected serial killer” targeting the homeless.
“Homeless individuals for apparent no reason had been brutally targeted,” Morales said.
Police said a witness flagged down a patrol officer in the Wynwood area Tuesday and reported a victim with a gunshot wound to the head. The male victim was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital Trauma in critical condition.
The department said officers responded to a 911 call about an unresponsive shooting victim on Miami Avenue two hours later and found a man dead at the scene.
Both victims were homeless, police said.
“Physical evidence on the scene of both crimes quickly were matched by our ballistics experts, and we were able to identify a vehicle and a person of interest,” Morales told the media.
Suarez Maceo is a licensed real estate broker listed by Century 21 as working in Miami, Kendall, South Miami and Palmetto Bay.
“The fact that this particular person preyed on the most vulnerable in our community is particularly upsetting,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said.
Police said they are looking at evidence connecting Suarez Maceo to the stabbing death of another homeless man in October.
“One of the lead investigators noticed a resemblance that the suspect of this incident had to a crime that took place where another homeless individual was horrifically murdered,” Morales said.
Morales said other local law enforcement agencies are being asked to share any information on similar cases that could connect the suspect to further crimes.
The interim chief said Suarez Maceo will be charged with murder and attempted murder.
