A Florida guy in the past indicted for homicide has been officially charged within the taking pictures dying of a Palm Seashore Lyft driving force previous this yr.
Mathew Scott Flores, 36, who’s accused of killing 43-year-old Jose Carlos Martinez on Jan. 24 in Hardee County, was once indicted through an Okeechobee grand jury in reference to the dying of 74-year-old Lyft driving force Gary Levin, the Florida Division of Regulation Enforcement introduced.
He’s charged with first-degree premeditated homicide with a firearm, theft with a firearm and ownership of a firearm through a convicted felon.
Flores was once discovered using Levin’s crimson 2022 Kia Stinger in North Carolina on Feb. 2 whilst brokers had been investigating him within the dying of Martinez, FOX 13 Tampa Bay reported.
ELDERLY FLORIDA LYFT DRIVER, PREVIOUSLY REPORTED MISSING, CONFIRMED DEAD
Florida government stated Flores was once attached to a automobile stolen out of Orange County that was once present in Lake Price, which is the place an acquaintance ordered him a Lyft experience to Okeechobee that was once picked up through Levin. Flores is accused of taking pictures and killing Levin throughout the automobile.
Levin was once reported lacking out of south Florida after he turned into “unreachable” on Jan. 30. His frame was once present in a wooded lot in Okeechobee County through FDLE brokers on Feb. 4.
“Mr. Levin’s frame were cruelly dumped in a wooded house. His homicide was once chilly. It was once mindless and entirely pointless,” FDLE’s Eli Lawson stated all through a Wednesday information convention. “Mr. Levin was once a cherished member of the group right here in Palm Seashore. He’s a father and a pal. His family members have revel in insurmountable grief. No person must ever have to move thru that.”
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The FDLE stated Levin’s automobile was once noticed in Miami, Okeechobee and Gainesville after his disappearance. It was once in the end stopped in North Carolina on Feb. 2 after a U.S. Marshals regional activity power notified government to be looking out.
Flores, who was once using the automobile, allegedly led police on a chase thru 3 counties prior to they ran him off the street, inflicting the automobile to crash. He was once arrested in Rutherford County, North Carolina, and charged with a couple of crimes, however prosecutors dropped the fees so Florida government may just pursue the homicide allegations in opposition to him, Regulation & Crime reported.
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He was once extradited to Florida ultimate month to stand the fees in reference to Martinez’s homicide, which come with first-degree homicide, grand robbery auto, ownership of a firearm through a felon, and tampering with proof, in keeping with court docket data.