Students hacked teen with machete, then buried him alive
Three South Florida Job Corps students have confessed to luring a fellow student to the woods, where the mortally wounded 17-year-old was hacked with a machete and forced to lie in a shallow grave, cops said.
A fourth student, Desiray Strickland, 18, has been charged with taking part in the brutal June slaying of Jose Amaya Guardado.
Strickland and the alleged ringleader, Kaheem Arbelo, 20, had sex in the woods after Guardado was buried, according to an arrest document, The Miami Herald reported.
Guardado and the suspects in the sickening plot were all students at Homestead Job Corps, a live-in school and vocational training program for at-risk students run by the US Department of Labor.
During the bloodbath, Strickland “complained that she had missed the first series of machete strikes because she had walked away for a few minutes to urinate in the woods,” according to the arrest report.
Miami-Dade cops last week arrested Arbelo, Jonathan Lucas, 18, and Christian Colon, 19. A fifth suspect is expected to be arrested soon.
Investigators believe the slaying may have been connected to a debt that Gurdado owed Arbelo.
The four — who are charged with second-degree murder — are adults, so they could be eligible for indictments on charges of first-degree murder and the death penalty.
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Kaheem Arbelo (clockwise from top left), Christian Colon, Desiray Strickland and Jonathan LucaPhoto: Splash News
A few days before the crime, the four dug the grave and hid a machete in the brush, the paper reported, citing the arrest document.
“The victim made one last attempt to fight off the attackers,” Detective Juan Segovia wrote, “at which time, [Arbelo] struck the victim with the machete several more times until the victim’s face caved in.”
Relatives had searched for Guardado throughout South Miami-Dade after he went missing June 28. His brother later found the body buried not far from the Job Corps facility.
His family described him as a “peaceful” boy who worked at a flea market selling ice cream.
Strickland shoved an investigator and head-butted his chest before she was shackled on Wednesday, the paper reported.
She also tried to pick her handcuffs with screws from an electrical outlet and scrawled “MPD Go to Hell” on a table, the report said.
She also faces charges of resisting an officer with violence, battery on an officer and criminal mischief.
A Labor Department spokesman said “safety and security is our top priority.”
“Steps already have been taken to strengthen security at the Homestead center, and Job Corps is reviewing safety and security at all its centers,” said spokesman Stephen Barr, the paper reported.
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