After the Miami Police confirmed on Wednesday that Damián Valdez-Galloso is responsible for the murder of Cuban reggaeton artist José Manuel Carbajal (El Taiger), new details about the crime have emerged.
Teresa Padrón, former manager and friend of the singer, revealed to Telemundo 51 that the individual was the one who called 911 after shooting Taiger and leaving him in his car in front of Jackson Memorial Hospital.
"We know that Damián was driving Jose's car, he went around the hospital about five times and either he couldn't find the entrance or he didn't know what to do; he was desperate about whether to enter or not," he said.
"Finally, he enters the block where he left the car and gets out. Another car picks him up, and he calls 911 from his phone," he clarified.
The police have in their possession a video recorded by a camera from a neighboring house to the residence rented by Valdez-Galloso (where the incident took place), located at the corner of SW 5th Street and 5th Avenue in Hialeah.
Sources indicate that the material, which will be revealed later, shows the moment when Taiger collapsed in front of the house, followed by two people placing him in a car.
The suspect, who was wanted as a "person of interest" in the case, was arrested on Tuesday in New York after being on the run since October 8. He will soon be transferred to Miami-Dade County for trial.
"We are working with the state's prosecutors, particularly with prosecutor Katherine Fernández, to ensure the charges that will be brought against him and that Damián pays for his crime," stated Miami Police Chief Manuel A. Morales.
The official refuted the rumors that El Taiger had died from torture or as a result of some sort of reckoning. "We have no evidence that he was tortured; he was murdered," he emphasized.
The police had offered $5,000 for information leading to the whereabouts of Valdez-Galloso. He is scheduled to appear in court on November 12.
The Cuban reggaeton artist was found on October 3rd in the back of a Mercedes Benz truck, with a gunshot wound to the head, in front of Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
He was declared dead seven days later, on October 10.
Valdéz-Galloso, 49, has a lengthy criminal record.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, he was convicted of six offenses between 2007 and 2018.
In 2007 and 2008, for having sexual relations with a minor aged 16 to 17. In 2016 and 2017, for failing to register as a sex offender, and in 2018, for robbery in the first degree.
Additionally, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency detained him in 2015 and 2019.
The last time he was released from prison was on September 2, 2020.
The following year, he was accused of grand theft in Miami-Dade.
Filed under:
