Suspect Apprehended After Stabbing at Nursing and Rehab Facility: Miami-Dade Police

The victim, a janitor at the Coral Reef Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, died after being rushed to a hospital in critical condition

A janitor who was stabbed at a nursing and rehabilitation facility in southwest Miami-Dade Thursday has died, police said.

Gregorio Rojas, 51, faces a charge of first-degree murder after he stabbed Danilo Jose Mejia Salazar, 63, multiple times in the neck at the Coral Reef Nursing & Rehabilitation Center at 9869 SW 152nd St. before fleeing, according to police.

But officers apprehended Rojas, who was still armed with a knife, police said.

"Everybody was crying, like the nurses, everybody was crying there like they were one of his family members," witness Nadine Brice said of the stabbing's aftermath.

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The victim was taken by air to Kendall Regional Medical Center’s trauma center in critical condition before he passed away, police said.

Rojas was visiting his brother at Coral Reef when he attacked the janitor at about 3:07 p.m., police said.

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The suspect and janitor first exchanged words in a hallway near the home's rehab center. But their interaction turned hostile, with Rojas attacker pulling out a large knife and stabbing the janitor in his neck over and over, police said.

"The employees were screaming, everybody was screaming, you know?" witness Rolando Fuentes said. "A lot of distress in the area."

He had just wrapped up a meeting when he walked into the crime scene.

Blood was "all sprayed on the floor everywhere," he said.

A police report indicated that Rojas and Salazar had words months earlier when Rojas was visiting his brother at the facility.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William Thomas ordered Rojas held without bond in court on Friday. Rojas remained silent during the hearing.

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