A Sunshine State sheriff on Monday arrested a “possible serial killer” who Florida authorities say strangled two sex workers separately and disposed of their bodies like “garbage.” announced.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said Carlos Yadiel Baez-Nieves is suspected of killing two women in March and April. During a press conference.
Law enforcement officials alleged that the 25-year-old suspect took the women into his truck and had sex with them on two separate occasions before carrying out the murders.
“Baez-Nieves then drove to the intersection and pushed their lifeless bodies out of the truck,” Mina said.
The body of the first victim, Fatia Flowers, 41, was discovered on March 14, but her cause of death was not immediately determined, Mina said. Later, on April 17, the body of Nicole Daniels, 44, was discovered in the same location.
Mina said detectives were able to track surveillance footage that showed Daniels getting into a “very distinctive” white Ford F-150 pickup truck the night before he was found dead.
Other women working in the area also told police they noticed the truck.
Orange County’s top cop said the Ford F-150 originally belonged to Baeznieves, who was arrested on a suspended license.
According to Mina, he confessed to the murders of the two women while in custody.
Mina said the suspected killer had “rough sex” with one of the women and claimed that the other victim attacked him first.
He praised investigators for thwarting a “potential serial killer.”
“I am very confident that the detectives’ tireless efforts on this case prevented Báez-Nieves from becoming a prolific serial killer,” Mina said.
“He was clearly targeting women he thought he couldn’t pass up. He murdered them and dumped their bodies on the roadside like trash, but he didn’t want Fatija and Nicole’s lives to have meaning.” And of course we’re very thankful and grateful to these great detectives who knew they deserved justice just like all of us.”
Baeznieves, who has lived in Florida since 2020, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and is currently in custody.
Mina said the sheriff’s office is investigating whether there may be more victims in the state or in Puerto Rico, where Baeznieves is from.
“We are very, very happy that he is now in prison and will never be able to do something like this again,” Mina said.
