2 Venezuelan gang members charged with Doral murder face death penalty – NBC 6 South Florida

Two men currently face the death penalty in connection with the 2023 kidnapping and murder of a Doral man whose home was ransacked by armed burglars who claimed to be members of a violent Venezuelan street gang.

Julio Cesar Hernandez-Montero, 27, and Yurwin Salazar-Maita, 23, stood side by side in a Miami-Dade courtroom on Tuesday as prosecutors announced that the two had been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 43-year-old Jose Luis Sanchez-Valera.

In addition to the first-degree murder charges, Assistant District Attorney Gabriela Alfaro told Judge Laura Cruz that the state will charge the co-defendants with robbery, auto theft, kidnapping and burglary.

According to an arrest warrant, Sanchez-Valera went to a Miami hotel on the evening of November 27 to meet a woman.

Surveillance video from the hotel shows him leaving the hotel and getting into his Toyota 4Runner while three dark-clad suspects got out of a silver sedan and forcibly dragged him from the driver's seat, the arrest warrant says.

Sanchez-Valera was forcibly placed in the back seat of his SUV as the suspects fled, the warrant states.

Hours later, a burglary was reported at Sanchez-Valera's apartment in the 6400 block Northwest 102 Path in Doral.

According to the warrant, two armed men entered Sanchez-Valera's apartment and demanded jewelry from Valera's roommate. They also stole a safe from Sanchez-Valera's bedroom and fled in the silver sedan, the warrant states.

After breaking into the house, the roommate contacted Sanchez-Valera's son, who was able to track Sanchez-Valera's location using a phone app.

Sanchez-Valera's “blood-splattered” 4Runner was discovered at the corner of Northwest 28th Street and Northwest 37th Avenue, his body lying in the back seat. He was handcuffed and bound, the warrant said.

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A medical examiner later concluded that Sanchez-Valera had been strangled and ruled the death a homicide, the arrest warrant said.

The roommate identified the woman Sanchez-Valera wanted to meet at the hotel and was able to identify one of the suspects in the break-in as an acquaintance from her home country of Venezuela, the arrest warrant states.

According to the arrest warrant, the roommate also testified that during the break-in, one of the suspects told him they were from the “Tren De Aragua,” a violent Venezuelan street gang that, according to the FBI, is currently active in the United States.

Hernandez-Montero was identified as an acquaintance of Sanchez-Valera and his roommate, and the roommate identified him as one of the suspects in the burglary, the warrant said.

Hernandez-Montero's phone was in the area of ​​the hotel where Sanchez-Valera was kidnapped. He had booked two rooms there and was using them, the arrest warrant says.

A video also shows him leaving the hotel and his clothing matched that of one of the suspects in the robbery, the arrest warrant states.

Investigators were able to identify Salazar-Maita as a suspect after a fingerprint on the 4Runner matched his and cellphone data showed he had been at the hotel, authorities said.

The co-defendants are currently in jail without bail. If convicted of premeditated murder, Cesar Hernandez-Montero and Salazar-Maita could be sentenced to death.

On Tuesday, prosecutors also filed their intention to seek the maximum sentence.