Related videos:
The neighbors of Karel Díaz González, a 46-year-old Cuban arrested last Sunday in Hialeah, came to his defense in front of the media and claim that the accused allegedly acted in response to a prior aggression.
However, this is a version that contradicts both the victim's testimony and the images captured by surveillance cameras.
The attack and the police report
The incident occurred around 8:18 PM on Sunday at Block 767 of West 2nd Avenue, according to the arrest report from the Hialeah Police, as cited by the press.
The agents found the victim, identified as Osvaldo Fuentes, sitting on the ground as family members tried to stop the bleeding from multiple wounds on the back of his head and body.
Fuentes was transferred to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital with life-threatening injuries and had to undergo surgery for a wound to the lower part of his neck.
The victim told authorities that she did not know her attacker, and that the assault had no apparent motive: “I don’t know why this happened… I don’t know him.”
Eddie Rodríguez, spokesperson for the Hialeah Police Department, supported this account: “The victim states that he does not know the suspect. That there was no confrontation… he says he was not provoked, and he doesn’t know why this man decided to attack him with a weapon.”
Surveillance footage shows Díaz González talking with Fuentes under an awning, returning to his apartment, and coming out minutes later with a large kitchen knife in an attacking position, while the victim attempted to escape.
The weapon was recovered underneath a parked vehicle nearby. Díaz González is facing a charge of second-degree attempted murder with a deadly weapon.
The defense of the neighbors
Despite the evidence, several residents of the neighborhood publicly came out to defend the accused with a different version of events.
Olga Lidia Gutiérrez, a resident of Díaz González, challenged the account of the random attack.
"How can it be a person he doesn't know if they came to look for him at his house? Because he was at his house. If the guy runs away, it’s common sense," the woman questioned in statements to Telemundo 51.
The same neighbor claimed that the accused "is a wonderful person" who had never caused any problems in the community.
A third neighbor added: “Everyone says that the gentleman threw a stone at him, hit him on the head first, picked a fight with him first, and that’s why he did that.”
Díaz González himself, upon opening the door to his apartment with visible blood on one ear, spontaneously declared—before being questioned—that he had been attacked first.
After being informed of his rights, he refused to make a statement.
Without bail and with a public defender
On Monday, Díaz González appeared before a judge, who assigned him a public defender and ordered that he remain in custody without bail while the investigation continues.
In Florida, the law known as "Stand Your Ground" allows individuals to claim immunity for acting in self-defense without the obligation to retreat from a threatening situation.
However, the surveillance footage—showing the accused actively leaving his apartment with the knife—considerably complicates that possible defense.
The investigation into the case of Karel Díaz González remains open while authorities determine what exactly triggered the confrontation and whether there was any prior aggression that could alter the charges filed.
This case adds to a series of similar incidents in Hialeah and the metropolitan area of Miami.
Filed under: