Juan Carlos Mesa was murdered on April 22, 1986, in South Florida. He was one of nine people killed during a series of attacks carried out between January and April 1986 by Manuel Pardo Jr., a former Florida Highway Patrol and Sweetwater police officer who targeted individuals he claimed were involved in drugs.

Investigators tied Pardo to the killings after he sought medical treatment in New York City for a gunshot wound, and ballistic tests linked that bullet to the weapon used in the murders. Items belonging to victims were recovered in his possession. At trial in 1988, Pardo was convicted of nine counts of first-degree murder, including Mesa’s, and sentenced to death.

Does anyone have memories of Juan Carlos Mesa or information about his life in South Florida that could add context to what is known about him?