Kadel Piedrahita, a Cuban national, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Miami-Dade judge after being found guilty of murdering a cyclist in Florida in 2019. The court convicted Piedrahita of second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm, following the events on August 14, 2019, at the Key Biscayne bridge. Additionally, he received an extra five-year sentence for the armed assault charge, as reported by AmericaTeVé.
On that fateful day, a heated altercation led to Piedrahita, who was riding his motorcycle, fatally shooting cyclist Alexis Palencia. The 48-year-old victim, originally from Guantánamo and a father of two, lost his life, while another cyclist, César Sosa, was also shot.
Local 10 highlighted that no one spoke in support of Piedrahita during the sentencing, and his family members were absent from the courtroom. His public defender mentioned that the incident had also shattered Piedrahita's own family life.
Piedrahita was known to accompany a cycling group called "Don Pan," in which his 17-year-old son participated. In a trial held in September, he claimed self-defense, asserting that Palencia and Sosa had attacked him and that Palencia was handed a weapon. His defense team argued that he fired the shots after being assaulted by Palencia and two other cyclists, Sosa and Londono, who testified in the trial. They maintained that Palencia was armed during the confrontation.