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The wound left by the murder of Cuban officer Yandy Chirino reopened this Tuesday in a Broward court, as prosecutors played a video showing the final moments when his best friend and patrol partner found him seriously injured after being shot.
The material, described by local media as "devastating," is part of the death penalty phase against Jason Banegas, the 22-year-old who pleaded guilty to the crime and could now be sentenced to death in Florida.
According to Local 10 News, the court displayed surveillance footage that shows the exact moment when Detective Manuel Rodríguez-Blevins, Chirino’s best friend, arrives at the scene and sees him struggling with Banegas.
Rodríguez-Blevins found his friend, Officer Chirino, severely injured after being shot twice in the face. As he recalled the moment, he couldn't hold back his tears. “He was pointing to his face, they shot him,” he declared through sobs, according to the media.
Meanwhile, Banegas remained seated in the living room, impassive, showing no emotion while the images played, reported the broadcaster.
Local 10 details that Banegas, who was 18 at the time, shot the officer twice in the face, knocking out teeth and leaving him gasping for life while trying to carry out his duty.
The detective recounted through tears how he tried to save his friend, but had to interrupt the maneuver several times because Banegas kept resisting and attempting to escape. Once he managed to subdue him, he loaded Chirino into his patrol car and rushed him to the hospital.
Another clip from the video showed the moment when an officer fell to his knees outside the emergency room, threw his cap to the ground, and cried hysterically as Chirino was admitted to intensive care.
Rodríguez-Blevins couldn't hold back when describing what he witnessed that night. The judge, according to the television station, couldn't even watch the video, but was shocked by the rawness of the testimony.
On its part, NBC News confirmed that a jury will have to decide whether to recommend the death penalty or life imprisonment for Banegas, although the final decision will be in the hands of the judge.
A crime that marked the Cuban-American community
This stage of the trial comes just weeks after Banegas changed his plea to guilty on all ten charges against him, including first-degree murder with a firearm, as reported in October by Local 10 and Telemundo 51. With this turn of events, the process moved directly toward sentencing, closing four years of waiting for the fallen officer's family and the Hollywood community.
Chirino, born in Havana and raised in Miami, was murdered on October 17, 2021, while responding to a report of a suspicious person checking cars on North Hills Drive. Banegas, who was 18 at the time, was armed with a stolen weapon and shot him during a struggle, according to the police investigation.
The officer was transferred to Memorial Regional Hospital, where he died hours later. His death shocked the Hollywood Police Department, where he was regarded as an exemplary young man: a graduate of FIU, recognized several times for his performance, and named "Officer of the Month" in June 2020.
Thousands of people attended the funeral. His family recalled that “he died doing what he loved: helping people.” The crime even affected the assailant's relatives, as Banegas' 17-year-old sister was arrested weeks later for the theft of the weapon used in the murder.
The sentencing phase will continue in the coming days.
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