On March 24, 2019, 31-year-old Leandro Lopez was fatally shot on the rooftop of a parking garage in the 7300 block of Northwest 36th Street in west Miami-Dade County. Surveillance footage shows Lopez and 29-year-old David Paneque arriving together; the video depicts Paneque confronting Lopez, Lopez appearing to plead, and then Lopez being shot multiple times at close range. After the shooting Paneque is seen removing an item from Lopez’s body before fleeing.

Paneque was arrested April 3, 2019, and charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm by a violent career criminal. He has pleaded not guilty. Paneque’s record includes a 2008 conviction for attempted murder and armed robbery, and he served nearly a decade in prison; ICE took him into custody on release in 2017 and ordered deportation to Cuba but instead released him under an order of supervision. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty after a grand jury indictment. Lopez’s family remember him as a beloved man and devoted father to a young son.

The motive for the killing remains unclear; family say Lopez and Paneque were not friends and do not know why they were together that day. Does anyone have information about Lopez’s final movements or why the two men might have met at that garage?