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Suspect in Homestead Teen's Death to Undergo Evaluation

One of the three young men facing charges in the murder of a teen in Homestead appeared in court Thursday where he was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Rocking back and forth, 19-year-old Christian Colon faced a judge wearing a suicide prevention vest like the one he wore in bond court last week.

Colon is one of four accused of attacking 17-year-old Jose Guardado with a machete and killing him.

"Mr. Colon appeared to be in very bad psychological shape. He's shaking, he's very nervous, obviously frightened half to death," defense attorney Robert Finlay said.

Family members said Guardado's brother found his burned body partially buried in a wooded area near the Homestead Job Corp, a dorm for at-risk teens. Guardado had been dropped off at the center on June 28, and his brother found the body three days later.

Detectives later arrested Colon along with 20-year-old Kaheem Arbelo, 18-year-old Desiray Strickland and 18-year-old Jonathan Lucas. Strickland and Arbelo confessed to planning Guardado's murder, officials said. They told detectives they dug a grave in the woods to bury the victim. And according to the arrest report, the defendants got rid of the evidence while Strickland and another defendant had sex near the corpse.

"He will be seen by two doctors that are court appointed, they will evaluate him," Finlay said of Colon.

The defendants and the victim were students at Homestead Job Corps. The gruesome murder has devastated Guardado's family from the moment they found his body.

Lucas is the last defendant scheduled to appear in court Friday. And all four defendants could end up facing the death penalty if convicted of the brutal killing of Guardado.

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