BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – A man has been arrested after his roommate was found dead Wednesday morning in western Broward County on the edge of the Everglades, Local 10 News has learned.
Michael Celello, 56, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the death.
Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion said the Miccosukee Police Department requested assistance with a possible death investigation. Concepcion said witness information suggested that a person had been killed and the body dumped in the Everglades.
BSO deputies found the body of a man shortly after daybreak near mile marker 49 along Alligator Alley.
Concepcion said detectives determined that the man, identified as Michael Cerillo, 49, had been killed in Sebring.
An employee at the Miccosukee Service Plaza told Local 10's Erica Rakow that a man and a woman arrived at the gas station Tuesday night in a silver Lexus. He said the woman handed another employee a note that said to call police.
The man, later identified as Celello, claimed to have killed someone in Highlands County and was arrested, Rakow reported.
"They just used what force they had to use," the witness said of police after the man resisted arrest.
Highlands County Sheriff's Office detectives said Celello fatally shot his roommate, stole his car and dumped the body in the Everglades.
A view of the gas station from Sky 10 showed crime-scene tape surrounding the Lexus, which was parked at the gas station. Bloodstains could also be seen near the trunk of the car.
Celello faces charges of first-degree murder, grand theft, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and tampering with physical evidence.