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| Christian Cirilo |
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| Omar Ortiz |
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| Jesse Torres |
July 22, 2020
On August 11, 2019 the remains of a man were found dumped
along a remote section of a Highway 464 in southeastern Levy County. Detectives
arrived on scene and were able to quickly identify the victim. Evidence located
at this scene confirmed the life of Jafet Padin Rodriguez (33) of Ocala was
violently taken. This began the long complicated investigation to identify and
arrest the individual(s) responsible.
Levy County Detectives immediately joined forces with the
Ocala Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida
Fire Marshal’s Office. The car belonging to Rodriguez was discovered burned in Marion
County. Detectives invested hundreds of hours in the beginning stages of this
investigation and these interviews led to several tangible leads. Detectives
then sought investigative assistance from the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement (FDLE) due to language barriers and jurisdictional boundaries.
Detectives learned through multiple interviews a prevailing
theory of why Rodriguez was murdered. Detectives were able to track the
movements of Rodriguez from a local night club in Ocala to a private residence
in Ocala on the night he was killed. Detectives learned that the victim was
attacked over a misunderstanding related to text messages related to a love
triangle. During the course of their investigation Detectives learned that the
victim did not send the text messages and was not involved in the love
triangle. Based off of these investigative leads, Detectives were able to
identify the home where the victim was attacked, which ultimately led to the
identification of three men who violently attacked and killed Rodriguez.
This cooperative investigation with the FDLE uncovered
evidence tying Christian Cardona Cirilo (8/6/92) of Ocala, Omar Rodriguez Ortiz
(10/5/81) of Ocala and Jesse Torres (5/6/88) of Ocala to this murder. LCSO
Detective Mike McNeil secured warrants for the arrest of these three men for
the crime of Premeditated First Degree Murder on July 13, 2020.
LCSO Detectives, along with FDLE agents, the United States
Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the Ocala
Police Department executed all three arrest warrants yesterday and were able to
successfully conclude this case. All three men were booked into the Marion
County Jail where they are being held with NO BOND.
Sheriff McCallum said, “Murder cases where the victim has no
ties to Levy County are some of the most difficult to solve. I am extremely
proud of the hard work these dedicated detectives put into this case. Their
ability to work with other agencies to solve this crime and offer closure to
this family is unrivaled. The men responsible for the senseless murder of Jafet
Padin Rodriguez will ultimately be transferred to the Levy County Detention
facility where they will be held awaiting trial.”