Deputies: Orange County man shoots, kills 72-year-old neighbor
Deputies say an Orange County man shot and killed his 72-year-old next-door neighbor Saturday night.
Ramon Antonio Frias Valerio, 36, was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder. He was booked into the Orange County Jail, where he was still being held without bond Monday.
Deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office responded around 9:30 p.m. Saturday to a 911 caller who reported a man had been shot in the back at a home in the 2700 block of Numilla Drive, according to an arrest affidavit.
A woman came out of the home when deputies arrived and told them her husband, 72-year-old Miguel Lanzo, had been shot by a man who lived in the house next to them on Myakka Drive, the affidavit said.
Lanzo, who was not awake when deputies found him in the garage, was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Deputies returned to the area to find Frias Valerio, who was reportedly inside his home with a firearm, according to the affidavit. After several minutes of deputies calling Frias Valerio to come outside, he stepped outside showing his hands and saying repeatedly, “He did that,” the affidavit said.
Deputies who handcuffed Frias Valerio found a Smith and Wesson revolver and live ammunition in his pockets, as well as several empty casings in the front entrance of the house, according to the report.
Orange County court records show Frias Valerio has previously been ordered by a judge to surrender his firearms and ammunition.
In June 2019, OCSO petitioned a judge to file a risk protection order against Frias Valerio after his family members reported he was “suffering from an unknown mental illness,” and they had hidden his guns because they were concerned he would hurt someone, Deputy Cole Brazee wrote in an affidavit.
Frias Valerio told deputies who responded to his home June 9, 2019 that he was the “Godfather,” and that an unknown group of people he worked for were “very dangerous” and recording his calls, Brazee said.
“Most of the conversation I had with him was not understandable,” Brazee wrote in the affidavit.
Later that same day, Frias Valerio reportedly told a family member over the phone that he was “putting on his guns and getting ready for war,” Brazee said.
“He told [the family member] he was going to kill people, saying he had the house surrounded with his people, stating he is the ‘Godfather’ and he needs to be respected.”
Frias Valerio was involuntarily committed under Florida’s Baker Act, according to Brazee.
In a June 17, 2019 order, Circuit Judge Patricia Strowbridge said Frias Valerio posed a “significant danger” to himself and others. She ordered him to surrender all guns and ammunition, as well as his firearms license, for a year.
The order expired June 17, 2020.
