MIAMI – Miami-Dade County prosecutors charged a 49-year-old Hialeah man on Wednesday with the murder of Jose Manuel Carbajal Zaldivar, better known as Cuban singer El Taiger. He was 37.
Damian Valdez-Galloso appeared in Miami-Dade County court to face an upgraded charge of first-degree murder. He was also facing charges of attempted tampering with physical evidence and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Detectives reported Valdez-Galloso shot El Taiger in the head shortly at 510 SE 5 St., in Hialeah, and surveillance video shows him dragging the wounded singer across the front porch, and a yard, and placing him in a black SUV.
Police officers found El Taiger hours later on Oct. 3 — wounded inside the SUV — near Northwest Ninth Avenue and 17 Street, in Miami-Dade’s Health District.
Fire rescue personnel took El Taiger to the nearby Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center where he died on Oct. 10.
The U.S. Marshals arrested Valdez-Galloso on Oct. 29 in Brooklyn and he was extradited to Miami-Dade County.
County inmate records show correctional officers have been holding Valdez-Galloso, a registered sex offender and convicted felon, without bond since his arrest on Nov. 6.
Detectives with the Miami, Miami-Dade, and Hialeah police departments worked together on the case.
Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477 to remain anonymous.
This is a developing story.