The Cuban Alain Wilfredo Samón Cuadra, 44 years old, was arrested last Thursday in North Fort Myers, Florida, accused of killing his partner with a knife, a crime that authorities are investigating as a homicide, reported the Lee County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) in a statement.
The victim was identified by family members as Yaneicy Hilda Prieto Rodríguez, a 38-year-old Cuban and mother of two girls, who resided in Fort Myers.
Samón Cuadra fled the scene after committing the crime and was captured shortly thereafter by LCSO agents. The police operation that led to his arrest was recorded in a video, which was officially shared through the agency's social media channels.
The violent incident occurred on Thursday, April 30, around 4:49 PM, when officers from the Sheriff's Office responded to a call regarding a domestic disturbance in the 16000 block of Shelby Lane, in North Fort Myers.
Upon arrival, the agents found the woman unconscious, with multiple lacerations and stab wounds. Despite the efforts of the paramedics from the Emergency Medical Service to save her life, she was declared dead at the scene.
Samón Cuadra fled in a work truck after the crime. K-9 units from the LCSO quickly located him in a nearby wooded area, and he was arrested without incident. The video of the arrest, shared by the Sheriff's Office on social media, shows officers instructing him in both English and Spanish: "Put your hands behind your back!"
The statement indicated that witnesses confirmed seeing the suspect with the victim immediately before and during the incident, and that preliminary investigations revealed that they were acquainted and lived together.
Samón Cuadra has been charged with second-degree homicide under statute F.S.S. 782.04 and remains in custody at the Lee County jail. The Major Crimes Unit has taken over the investigation and is working in coordination with the State Attorney's Office.
The county sheriff, Carmine Marceno, described the incident as “brutal and unacceptable violence” and warned: “A life was taken in a horrific manner, and my agents acted swiftly to identify and apprehend the suspect. Let it be clear: if you commit this type of violence, we will find you, we will arrest you, and you will be held fully accountable under the law.”
Yaneicy Prieto Rodríguez was originally from the Regla municipality in Havana, and Alain Samón Cuadra was from San Agustín in the La Lisa municipality, also in the Cuban capital, reported the Facebook page Nio reporting a crime.
Family members of Yaneicy, including her brother, confirmed to the platform that the assailant was the victim's husband. On social media, members of the Cuban community both in South Florida and on the island have expressed pain and outrage over the crime and are demanding justice.
The case adds to a series of crimes against Cuban women abroad by their partners or ex-partners. According to independent monitors OGAT and YSTCC, 12 Cuban women were victims of femicide abroad in 2025, six of whom were in the United States.
Among the most recent cases is that of Yannelis de la Caridad Casales, stabbed to death by her partner in Jacksonville, in March 2025. The attacker, Carlos Yordanis Aldana, was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
In November of that same year, Aileen Delgado Armas was killed by her husband in Hialeah, in a homicide followed by suicide. Meanwhile, last January, Yaimara Leyva Cadet died after being stabbed by her partner, José Emilio Galán Preval, in Las Vegas, another crime that also shocked the Cuban community.
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