MIAMI – A Bronx man was arrested Tuesday after he was accused of beating a victim to death with a piece of metal rebar in December outside of an apartment complex in Miami, authorities said.
According to an arrest warrant, City of Miami Police and Miami Fire Rescue were dispatched to a home around 2:45 p.m. on Dec. 28 near the 100 block of Northwest 11th Street in Miami, in reference to a man bleeding on the ground.
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Upon arrival, police said they were informed by witnesses that a man was involved in a physical altercation with 32-year-old Marcos Rosario.
According to the warrant, paramedics transported the man to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center where he died on Jan. 4.
Detectives said they obtained surveillance video that showed the physical altercation from a distance in which Rosario “performed an aggressive motion” toward the victim.
A witness told investigators that Rosario was considered to be a family friend of the victim.
Authorities said another witness told police that he saw Rosario using a tool that is “used to scrape popcorn ceilings and is composed of a pole with a sharp metal edge” as a weapon during the altercation.
Investigators said a third witness told police that he was working on the property when he heard an argument escalate.
According to police, the witness then saw the victim walking out of his apartment complex following the verbal argument and arming himself with what appeared to be a piece of metal rebar from the bed of his truck, which was parked outside the property’s metal gate.
As the victim went to grab the metal rebar out of his car, the witness saw Rosario go upstairs and return to the apartment with two knives from a woman’s home who he knows, according to police.
Investigators said the victim put the rebar away and pulled out a machete from the cabin of his truck before walking back upstairs to confront Rosario.
Due to the positioning of the truck, the witness could not see Rosario strike the victim with the blunt object, however, the witness did hear the victim yelling and requesting for an ambulance, police said.
According to the witness, the machete was inside the truck and the victim’s hands were empty while he was lying on the ground and bleeding from his head and mouth, the arrest warrant stated.
Police said Rosario left the scene on foot after the incident.
According to hospital records, the victim sustained a skull fracture, a subdural hematoma and a subarachnoid hemorrhage following a post-mortem examination.
A fourth witness told police that she was involved in an argument with the victim in which she told him he had to leave the apartment, which led to a verbal dispute with Rosario.
The witness said that she saw Rosario punching the victim in the face during the altercation, according to police.
After running outside and trying to get Rosario to stop, she saw Rosario raising the pole above the victim’s head and striking him with it, which caused him to fall to the ground,” authorities said.
As Rosario fled north of the property, the female witness heard another witness crying and yelling, “Mom, he killed him! He killed him!” according to the arrest warrant.
After being interviewed by police, a fourth female witness heard Rosario yelling “You’re not going to disrespect me” and “I’m going to kill you” before fleeing the scene, detectives said.
According to investigators, a doctor with the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the cause of the victim’s death was a blunt force head injury, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
According to authorities, Rosario was arrested around noon on Tuesday at Miami International Airport.
He is facing one count of second-degree murder and is being held on a bench warrant without bond.