Police have arrested and charged two men in the December 2016 murder of a Florida International University student.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office charged 25-year-old Donterio Fowler and 23-year-old Keondre Fields with first degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Michael Zaldua. Both were arrested Monday in Pinellas County.
Fowler is the brother of Atlanta Falcons defensive end Dante Fowler, who played college football at the University of Florida and grew up in St. Petersburg.
A lawyer for Fowler, Michael Grieco, said his client “has committed no crime” and that he intends to seek his release on bail. It wasn't clear Tuesday if Fields has a lawyer.
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Zaldua, a student at FIU and a freelance photographer, was shot and killed in a parking garage connected to the 4th Street Commons apartment complex just blocks from campus.
"It's just scary to see that someone can easily get shot. I go to the same school as he," neighbor and student Alexis Agusto said at the time of the shooting.
Zaldua was killed on the 3rd floor of the garage and detectives found a lot of cash in the victim's car, officials said.
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“When a loved one is killed and there is no arrest, the family tragedy only deepens as time passes and questions remain unanswered,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said.
Investigators also found several large Ziploc bags in Zaldua’s car containing marijuana and a small baggie of suspected cocaine.
“This case is another example that the tireless and determined work of the Miami-Dade Police Department Homicide Bureau and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office is constant,” said Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III. “Loved ones deserve to know and deserve proper closure.”
