The authorities in Miami released on Tuesday the body camera footage from the police officers who responded to the scene where Adrián Venereo, a 37-year-old locksmith, was found shot dead in the hallway of the seventh floor of an apartment building in West Miami, in a case that shocked the Hispanic community of South Florida.
The shocking images from the police bodycam show an officer running down the hallway of the building located at 6355 Southwest 8th Street, arriving at Venereo's body, lying in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound to the head.
"He has a gunshot wound to the head," one of the officers said upon arriving at the scene.
"Without vital signs," reported a member of the Miami Fire and Rescue Department immediately.
The crime occurred on February 20, when Venereo was called to change the lock of the apartment of Luis David Lemus, a 32-year-old Cuban who, along with his father, had been locked out of their home.
According to the arrest report, while the locksmith was working on the door, Lemus pulled out a gun and shot him in the head at point-blank range before fleeing the scene.
The building's surveillance cameras had previously captured the last moments of Venereo walking alongside Lemus down the hallway, dragging his wheeled toolbox, just seconds before he was attacked.
In those same images, the father of the suspect is seen with blood on his arms and hands, confronting his son after the crime and shouting: “Why did you do that?”
The arrest of the Cuban accused of the crime took place just hours after the incident, when the Tactical Robbery Unit located Lemus at 12:11 a.m. on February 21 at the intersection of Southwest 52nd Court and Southwest 7th Street, carrying a weapon.
Lemus admitted to having injured someone, and the prosecutors stated that he confessed to the crime.
When appearing before the Miami-Dade court via videoconference from the Turner Guilford Knight jail, Lemus was seen lying on a bed and covering himself with a blanket, not responding to any questions from the judge or the Spanish interpreter.
Judge Mindy S. Glazer denied him bail, assigned him a public defender, and reminded him of his right to remain silent.
Lemus is facing a second-degree murder charge with the use of a deadly weapon.
The last moments of the mortally shot locksmith were shared days after the crime, when Nicole Galvis, the victim's wife, also spoke publicly for the first time.
Galvis reported that she began to worry after not hearing from her husband for two hours and noticing that his location showed no movement.
"I simply felt that something was wrong, and when I arrived, I saw the entire crime scene and the police. They don't know why he did it; he was just at work," he recounted.
"Please, let justice be served for him. Because this is not right, this is very unfair. He was only helping," pleaded Nicole Galvis.
Venereo left two children orphaned, aged nine and thirteen.
The motive for the crime has not been publicly revealed, and the case is still awaiting trial.
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