A jury in Florida has found a Cuban man guilty of fatally shooting a cyclist, also Cuban, in Miami in 2019. Kadel Piedrahita was convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm for the events that transpired on August 14, 2019, on the Key Biscayne bridge.
On that day, following a violent altercation, Piedrahita shot and killed cyclist Alexis Palencia, 48, a native of Guantánamo and father of two. He also shot another cyclist, César Sosa.
The jury took only a few hours to deliver their verdict this past Monday. State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle argued that Piedrahita killed Palencia in cold blood, driven by hatred. Days before the crime, the accused had made a live broadcast on Facebook where he threatened his victim.
Piedrahita, who cried during the trial, claimed he acted in self-defense against attacks from Alexis Palencia and César Sosa, and that Palencia was handed a weapon. His defense added that he shot after being attacked by the victim and two other cyclists, Sosa and Londono, who were witnesses in the case, and insisted that Palencia had a weapon at the time of the incident.
Piedrahita's sentencing is scheduled for about two months from now. He faces a sentence ranging from 25 years in prison to life imprisonment.
On August 14, 2019, an altercation erupted between Piedrahita, who was on his motorcycle, and the victim. The fight was captured in a live Facebook broadcast. Although the phone appeared to fall, losing the video but not the audio, at the end of the recording, the accused can be heard calling emergency services to request an ambulance and confessing to shooting a man.
The assailant often accompanied the group of cyclists known as the "Don Pan" group, of which his 17-year-old son was a part. A few days later, he was formally charged after voluntarily turning himself in to the police.
Kadel Piedrahita's Conviction and Trial
Here are some frequently asked questions regarding the conviction of Kadel Piedrahita and the trial that followed.
What charges was Kadel Piedrahita convicted of?
Kadel Piedrahita was found guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm.
Who were the victims in the shooting?
The victims were Alexis Palencia, who was fatally shot, and César Sosa, who was also shot but survived.
What was the motive behind the shooting?
According to the prosecution, the motive was hatred, as Piedrahita had threatened Palencia in a live Facebook broadcast days before the crime.