A cold case murder on Miami Beach over a quarter century ago has been solved and police say they have the alleged gunman in custody.
53-year-old Dale Ewers was booked into jail after being extradited from Jamaica. He is being charged with four counts, including first degree murder, armed robbery and armed sexual battery.
According to police, Ewers knocked on the door of an apartment on Pine Tree Drive on September 21, 1990. The victim, 34-year-old Mercedes Perez, answered and left the door open while retrieving information Ewers asked for.
Ewers entered the apartment and held another woman at gunpoint before shooting Perez in the face, police said. She would die at the scene. Ewers then allegedly assaulted the other woman before placing her in a closet and stealing items before leaving.
In 2012, DNA evidence linked Ewers to the crime – however, he had been deported to Jamaica several years before after serving time in jail in Massachusetts following a 2008 arrest. Later that year, the surviving victim identified Ewers from a photo lineup. An arrest warrant was issued in October of last year and Ewers was arrested by Jamaican authorities.
After a separate burglary charge was resolved, officials in that county approved his extradition to South Florida.
"Thankfully in 2010 we were able to submit the DNA from the case and get a hit," Miami Beach Police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said.
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Ewers is expected to appear in bond court on Friday.
