FLORIDA CITY, FLA. (WSVN) - - Police in Florida City arrested a man after, officials said, he drove to the police station with the body of his girlfriend, who he confessed to have shot.
Florida City Police officers surrounded the man’s white SUV, late Saturday night. Inside the vehicle, they found the victim in the passenger seat.
The man, later identified as 48-year-old Alexander Roque, was handcuffed and searched as detectives investigated the bizarre circumstances of the case.
Roque was charged with second-degree murder.
The deceased was identified as 44-year-old Yessenia Rodriguez Marquez.
A police report stated that Roque contacted two people before he drove to the police station. One of them was Marquez’s estranged husband. Roque sent him a photo of the victim’s lifeless body before contacting him via video call on WhatsApp where Roque panned over to the victim, who was dead in the passenger seat.
Investigators also found that Roque reportedly texted his cousin about the crime before sending him a photo of the victim. Roque’s cousin told him to turn himself in. Both witnesses called the police after Roque talked to them.
Marquez’s former sister-in-law said she was trying to end her relationship with her husband.
“She said she doesn’t want to continue with the relationship, and then he continued calling her many times. Calling and then finally this happened,” said the sister-in-law who did not want to show her face.
The former sister-in-law said that her brother and Marquez have been married since they lived in Cuba and they share an 11-year-old daughter.
“I don’t have anything bad to say about Yessenia. She’s very quiet. hard worker, and she was very happy to be here in the United States,” said the former sister-in-law.
Months before the brutal killing, the former sister-in-law said her brother kidnapped Marquez and her daughter.
“He was kidnapping them at home,” said the former sister-in-law.
She said that Roque only let them go after Marquez’s ex-husband got involved. But still, that did not stop tragedy from happening.
Surveillance video from earlier in the week captured Roque knocking on his neighbor’s door.
Speaking to 7News off camera, the neighbor said that he told her that he was going to play loud music that night.
Florida City Commissioner Walter Thompson spoke with 7News on Sunday.
“He came to the police station, and our officers came over,” he said.
Officers waited outside the police station as the SUV rolled up with a man driving.
Police said they ordered him out, captured him and then found the woman in the passenger seat with a gunshot wound to the head.
“We had a young woman who got shot, and police is also investigating,” said Thompson. “We’ve already apprehended the suspect.”
First responders tried to save Marquez, but she was pronounced dead. Officers later found the gun used inside the SUV before it was towed away as evidence.
On Monday morning, neighbors in the area where Roque lived said he was a quiet man and they were shocked to hear the news of his crime.
“Sad, sad, very bad,” said one neighbor.
“I would see him with the woman. He seemed calm and nice,” said a second neighbor. “It’s sad, yes, and a crazy moment.”
“It’s terrible, yeah, terrible,” said the former sister-in-law.
7News cameras captured Roque’s home’s door, which has four locks as opposed to two. Neighbors in the area said that the several locks at his home were concerning.
A window at his home was also tinted and there were shutters on it as well.
Roque remains in the Turner Guilford Correctional Center for booking and processing. His motive remains unclear.
He appeared in front of a judge on Monday.
“You were arrested for one count of second-degree murder,” Judge Mindy S. Glazer.
Roque was denied bond after he confessed to the murder of his girlfriend.
“You killed the victim, then driving around in the car with her and sending pictures of her lifeless body to people,” said Glazer. “The state may charge it as a first-degree murder.”
The Miami-Dade Police Homicide Bureau has taken over this death investigation.
Roque is expected back in court on Tuesday.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.