Bryan Marquez, Fort Pierce, Florida man murders roommate for throwing away food. Investigation reveals both suspect and victim being illegal immigrants.
An undocumented immigrant living in Florida has admitted to killing his roommate following an altercation after the victim throwing a plate of food to the floor, with the suspect then partially burying the victim in a yard, police said.
Bryan Marquez, 22, was charged with first-degree murder Wednesday, two days after police acting on a tip arrived at a property in Fort Pierce where the suspect had been renting a shed, where they spotted a human foot sticking out of the ground in the yard.
The Fort Pierce Police Department stated in an arrest affidavit that the responding officers observed a makeshift grave about 18 inches deep that contained the body of a Hispanic man between the ages of 35 and 45.
Sgt. Charles Dannon with the Fort Pierce Police Dept said the owner of the home called police when he spotted the leg, leading responding officers to Mr Marquez as he also lived on the property.
Investigators collected samples of blood that were found in the yard, along with rocks, gloves, plywood, shovels and a blanket.
Suspect said he was disrespected
An autopsy performed on the victim determined that the man had severe facial injuries, a broken nose and broken ribs. The cause of death was ruled to be blunt force trauma.
Marquez, wearing a pair of white shorts stained with dirt and suspected blood, was taken in for questioning, with the man allegedly confessing to killing his roommate, whom he said he knew only as ‘Guanajuato,’ according to the affidavit.
The 22-year-old suspect told detectives that the victim threw a plate filled with food on the ground and disrespected Marquez, who did not react to the slight right away.
After getting drunk later that night, Marquez said he decided to confront his roommate about the earlier incident, and proceeded to punch Guanajuato in the ribs and face, knocking him to the ground.
Once Guanajuato was down, Marquez said he grabbed dirt and gravel, and shoved it into the victim’s mouth two separate times, the court document stated.
Marquez then yelled at Guanajuato to stand up, and when the man did not move and was no longer breathing, he said he realized that the victim was dead.
Instead of calling 911, Marquez said he grabbed the victim by his feet, dragged him to another part of the yard, buried him in a hastily dug hole, and then went to sleep.
Both victim and suspect were illegal immigrants living in shed
The medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Guanajuato noted that gravel and soil that were found inside the man’s larynx, trachea, lungs and stomach contributed to his death by obstructing his airway.
Sgt Donnon told CBS12 that before Marquez was booked on the murder charge last week, he had been in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was about to be deported back to his native Mexico.
Donnon revealed that both Marquez and his victim were undocumented immigrants living in Florida illegally.
‘We received information on Tuesday that he had already contacted family and was getting a bus ticket to get back to Mexico, so this is when the hairs stand up,’ the police sergeant said. ‘We want to make sure that we’re not releasing somebody that did this horrific of a crime.’
As of Monday, Marquez remained in the St. Lucie County jail without bond.
