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Texts helped crack case in shooting death of sex worker at Doral hotel, police say

Police: Javon Washington, 21, listed as ‘Thief’ in victim’s phone

Man arrested after woman found murdered in Doral hotel (Courtesy: Miami-Dade Police Department)

DORAL, Fla. – Miami-Dade police said they have arrested the man who murdered a woman at a Doral hotel.

Javon Alexander Washington, 21, was arrested Thursday morning at a home in southwest Miami-Dade.

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Maritza Ceballos-Henrique, 57, also known as Lisa Ceballos, was found shot to death in room #272 at the Extended Stay America Hotel at 8720 NW 33rd St., just off 87th Avenue last month.

According to the arrest warrant, Doral Police officers found Ceballos-Henrique “lying on the ground, in a pool of blood, with an apparent gunshot wound to her head.”

Miami-Dade Police homicide investigators then obtained a search warrant for the hotel room.

They said they found, “a large quantity of condoms as well as other sex-related paraphernalia.”

They also recovered a .40 caliber bullet casing and three cellular devices registered to Ceballos-Henrique.

When investigators examined the devices, they said they found text messages and phone calls “from a large number of customers and potential customers, where she included her pricing scale for sexual acts.”

Detectives said the last messages that Ceballos-Henrique were sent and received at around 2 p.m. on Feb. 5.

They detailed a meeting for sex acts at the hotel.

She was found shot to death the next day at 11:14 a.m.

Detectives said they tracked the cellphone number that was part of the final exchange of messages to Washington.

Washington’s number was in Ceballos-Henrique’s phone as “Este Es Ladron, No Recibir,” which translates to “This One Is A Thief, Do Not Receive,” the warrant states.

Detectives also said that Washington’s 2011 black Nissan Versa was seen on Florida Department of Transportation cameras and tracked on license plate readers near the scene of the murder.

The warrant states that ballistics data from spent shell casings from the scene of the murder match those collected from a ShotSpotter alert scene in the West Little River area on Jan. 21.

According to police, that scene, Northwest 30th Avenue and 87th Terrace, is an area “known for prostitution activity.”

Police said cellphone data also placed Washington at that scene.

Washington is charged with murder and is being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in west Miami-Dade.

The warrant doesn’t specify a motive for the crime.

He is slated to face a judge on Friday.


About the Authors
Steve Owen headshot

Steve Owen is the Assistant News Director at WPLG, and helps lead the daily news operations.

Chris Gothner headshot

Chris Gothner joined the Local 10 News team in 2022 as a Digital Journalist.

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