SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. – A 31-year-old man was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade County Tuesday, months after he allegedly stabbed two people in the apartment he shared with them in Sunny Isles Beach.
According to an arrest warrant, Matthew Ramirez was arrested on May 24, the day of the stabbings, by Hallandale Beach police after officers spotted him choking a woman.
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Police said earlier that day Ramirez stabbed Kevin Arthur Vilca, 18, and Durley Zuluaga, 64, inside the apartment they all shared on North Bay Road in Sunny Isles Beach.
Both victims were transported to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
Vilca was pronounced dead at the hospital, while Zuluaga survived her injuries.
According to the warrant, a woman who was involved in an “intimate” relationship with Ramirez had called him to let him know she was heading to his apartment “to bring him a card containing money as a going away gift.”
When she arrived, Ramirez, who had blood-stained clothes on and cuts to both of his hands, got into her car and said, “They are after me, drive,” the arrest warrant stated.
Police said the woman told detectives that she thought Ramirez was the victim of an attack and said he kept grabbing her steering wheel while she was driving, yelling at her to drive faster.
According to the warrant, the woman claimed Ramirez took her cellphone from her and forced her to drive through red lights.
She said she was in fear for her life so she eventually pulled over and removed the keys from the ignition, which infuriated Ramirez, according to the warrant.
Police said that’s when Ramirez began choking the woman before he was pulled away by Hallandale Beach police officers who witnessed the attack.
According to the warrant, the knife used in the stabbings was found under a white sofa in the living room of the apartment. Police said Ramirez admitted to placing the knife there.
He was arrested on charges of second-degree murder and attempted second degree murder.
A motive for the stabbings was not stated in the arrest warrant.
Ramirez had been held in the Broward County jail after his arrest in Hallandale Beach, but as of Wednesday afternoon, he was being held without bond at TGK.