MIAMI – Local 10 News has obtained new video of a string of ATM robberies that happened back in 2020.
It was released Thursday during the first-degree murder trial of Armando Verdecia. He is accused of also shooting and killing a man at a southwest Miami-Dade gas station.
The video shows the robbers walk up to customers and, at gunpoint, demand money. Most of them comply. But, when one man didn’t comply, one of the alleged armed robbers pulled the trigger.
Prosecutors say Verdecia pulled the trigger twice and dragged 23-year-old Adrian Alvarez with his car for more than two blocks in August 2020.
Alvarez was walking outside of this Shell gas station in southwest Miami-Dade when Verdecia approached him in his car. A struggle ensued over Alvarez’s bag before the shots rang out.
Verdecia appeared in a Miami-Dade courtroom on Thursday, on trial for first-degree murder.
Prosecutors showed jurors text messages and cellphone location data that show Verdecia was there at the time of the shooting. Jurors also heard from victims of these armed robberies who said they believe Verdecia was the man behind the mask and gun.
Alvarez was shot in the thigh. A police officer who arrived on the scene attempted to save him, but he died from those wounds.
Both sides rested their cases Thursday; Verdecia didn’t take the stand. Jurors are expected to deliberate Friday.