Second man arrested in Miami-area murder of retired Venezuelan cop. Third is at large

Omar Rodríguez Ortiz
·1 min read
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A second man has been arrested for the murder of a retired Venezuelan police officer near Miami while a third suspect remains at large, according to authorities.

Julio Cesar Hernandez-Montero, 28, was nabbed in Panama City, Panama, and extradited with the help of the FBI before Miami-Dade cops arrested him Thursday, police said in a news release.

Police accused Hernandez-Montero and Yurwin Salazar-Maita, 23, of killing 43-year-old José Luis Sánchez Valera after he was lured by women and abducted from the parking lot of La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Miami Airport East, 3501 NW 42nd Ave., in late November. The Doral resident was found dead the next day, Nov. 28, with his hands and feet bound in the backseat of a 2018 Toyota 4Runner.

Julio Cesar Hernandez-Montero, 28, (left) and Yurwin Salazar-Maita, 23, are accused of killing 43-year-old José Luis Sánchez Valera on Nov. 28, 2023.
Julio Cesar Hernandez-Montero, 28, (left) and Yurwin Salazar-Maita, 23, are accused of killing 43-year-old José Luis Sánchez Valera on Nov. 28, 2023.

Like his alleged accomplice, Hernandez-Montero is charged with first-degree murder, armed home invasion, carjacking and kidnapping. Hernandez-Montero and Salazar-Maita have been denied bail, remaining jailed at Miami-Dade County’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and Metrowest Detention Center respectively.

According to police reports, Salazar-Maita is a member of the Tren de Aragua, the infamous gang that has been terrorizing citizens of the South American country for more than a decade. Sánchez Valera’s abduction, carjacking, home invasion and murder is the first documented instance of a crime committed in South Florida by a member of the gang known for its size and wanton use of violence.

Salazar-Maita was arrested in Broward County in January.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.