HOMESTEAD, Fla. – A woman arrested in the planned murder of a 17-year-old boy in Homestead is being held without bond.
Desiray Strickland, 18, the latest person to be arrested in the case, appeared in bond court Thursday morning.
At times, Strickland appeared to be bored in the hearing, rolling her eyes and slouching over.
She faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of Jose Santos Amaya Guardado, as well as charges of battery on a law enforcement office, resisting arrest with violence and criminal mischief.
According to police, Strickland kicked and hit officers Wednesday as she was being taken into custody. Police said she destroyed items inside the interrogation room and even tried to use a screw to pick at her handcuffs and escape.
Kaheem Arbelo, 20, Christian Colon, 19, and Jonathan Lucas, 19, were arrested last week by Miami-Dade police.
According to a police report, the suspects and victim were students at the Homestead Job Corps, a live-in school and vocational program. Police said the three men admitted to plotting the murder with Strickland.
They too are being held without bond.
Detectives said the suspects dug a hole in the woods two weeks before they killed Guardado on June 28 and buried him.
According to the report, Arbelo used a machete to slash Guardado after the group lured him into the woods and ambushed him.
Police said Arbelo's friends watched him kill Guardado, and said Strickland complained that she missed part of the attack because she left for a few minutes to urinate in the woods.
According to the report, as the victim was dying, he was instructed to lie in the grave. Police said Guardado made a final attempt to fight off Arbelo, but was struck by the machete multiple times until his face caved in.
A Miami-Dade police source told Local 10 News that Guardado was sodomized, tortured and buried alive.
According to the report, the suspects got rid of the shovel and murder weapon and attempted to burn their clothes and Guardado's belongings after the attack occurred.
Police said Strickland and Arbelo had sex in the woods until it was time for them to return to campus at the Job Corps.
Guardado's body was found by his brother on July 1.
"I found his two feet facing down to the ground with his socks," Fedis Amaya said. "I recognized him by the socks as the same ones that he has at the house. That's when we knew it was him."
Fedis Amaya said his brother was born in El Salvador and sold ice cream at the local flea market to help his family make ends meet.
The medical examiner determined the victim's cause of death to be trauma and ruled the death a homicide.
A motive for the attack remains unclear, but a police source said the victim had been bullied before by the group.
A fifth person is expected to be arrested in the case.
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