MIAMI (WSVN) - Police have arrested a man in connection with the fatal shooting of a 62-year-old man who sacrificed his life to protect his granddaughter during a home invasion in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, and detectives said the suspect was a family member.
According to City of Miami Police, the incident occurred at 753 SW 5th St. on Thursday morning.
Officers responding to reports of a shooting found Luciano Matute suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. He later died at Jackson Memorial Hospital Trauma.
Police identified the shooter as 38-year-old Carlos Manuel Rosales, Matute’s son-in-law and the uncle by marriage of the victim’s granddaughter.
Detectives said the 11-year-old girl was alone in Apartment 4 when she heard someone creeping into her home.
Police said the girl called her mother, and the mother called Matute, who lived nearby.
When Matute arrived at the unit, investigators said, he confronted the intruder, and he was shot. As he fell to the ground, his granddaughter was right behind him.
“She was there to witness her grandfather passing away,” said Miami Police Officer Michael Vega.
A neighbor’s surveillance camera captured Matute as he fell down a flight of stairs after, police said, he was shot.
Moments later, his granddaughter rushed to his side as the suspect covered his face and ran off.
Nate Chapman, who lives across the street from the apartment, said he heard the granddaughter’s screams.
“I run across the street, and then right over by the staircase there, it’s where her grandfather was shot … a couple of times. He was on his back, not moving,” he said.
A woman who asked not to be identified or show her face on camera said she saw the subject run off after opening fire.
“We call 911, and we see the man that shot him running,” she said.
Nearby surveillance video shows the suspect on the run and covering his face just before 8:30 a.m.
Investigators said Rosales fled the scene in a white Toyota pickup but was apprehended after police spotted his vehicle.
He has been charged with second-degree murder, and detectives said he confessed to the murder upon arrest.
Rosales was also arrested on charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child and indecent exposure on a child.
“Once in the police station, that we’re interviewing Rosales, he confesses to the murder, but, we also interviewed the young girl, and she gives us information that from the age of 8, she had been molested by Mr. Rosales,” said Vega.
According to investigators, Rosales had been sexually abusing Matute’s granddaughter, whom he was protecting during the home invasion, for three years.
During Rosales’ first court appearance on Friday afternoon, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy S. Glazer denied him bond.
“There’s probable cause for second-degree murder,” said Glazer.
Rosales is being held on one count of murder and two counts of molestation.
Police said Matute’s granddaughter told investigators that another young relative has also been a victim of molestation. Detectives said there could be even more victims.
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