NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A death investigation is underway, after a body was found on the streets of Northwest Miami-Dade.
Initial reports stated that the victim was a woman, however Miami-Dade Police have identified the victim as a 31-year-old man, Jimmy Naun Benitez Gonzalez, Tuesday afternoon.
According to authorities, the body was discovered by a pedestrian, early Tuesday morning, in a residential area along the 3100 block of Northwest 74th Street.
7News spoke with the man who found the body and called police. He said he and his father were on their way to work, at around 6 a.m., when they saw the person lying on the side of the road, next to a gray Nissan with its doors open.
Witnesses said the victim was half naked and bloody.
The man who found the body is a former Army medic, so he proceeded to check the victim’s pulse, but there was nothing he could do to revive him.
Once investigators arrived to the scene, they were seen speaking with Angel Gomez, a man who witnessed the scene. “I came out at 6 [a.m.] and I saw there was already cops everywhere,” said Gomez, “and I saw a body, and apparently, it was a homicide.”
Witnesses said they believed the victim was a woman. “There was a car parked sideways, like that, and I saw a lady,” added Gomez. “She was a blonde lady with blonde hair, and her body was just slumped out the driver’s seat, like she was the driver of that car.”
Detectives, crime scene investigators and the medical examiner were on the scene, Tuesday afternoon, to comb for clues in hopes of discovering why and how the victim’s body ended up on 31st Avenue near 75th Street.
The owner of one of the warehouses along the block said he approached detectives because he has surveillance cameras that could help in the investigation.
Grainy images were captured on surveillance, at around 4 a.m., Tuesday. A car could be seen passing through an intersection, and 15 minutes later, a person can be seen running from the scene.
A business owner in the area said the location where the body was found has been a place for problems in the past. “A bullet hole there and a bullet hole there,” said business owner Jeff Horwitz as he pointed to two locations.
Horwitz said the area is extremely dark at night, which attracts trouble. “We find all kinds of different, little things out back here,” he said.
If you have any information on this death, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.
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