Man charged in nursing home stabbing

Gregorio Rojas charged with killing Danilo Jose Mejia Salazar

MIAMI – Police arrested a man accused of stabbing a nursing home janitor in the neck, killing him.

Police arrested 51-year-old Gregorio Rojas on Thursday. He was charged with first-degree murder. A judge denied him bond Friday.

According to police, Rojas stabbed 48-year-old Danilo Jose Mejia Salazar in the neck at the Coral Reef Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, where Mejia Salazar worked as a janitor.

Witnesses told police Rojas appeared to be stalking Mejia Salazar before stabbing him several times in the neck.

"He had blood all over his face," said Nadine Brice, who was visiting her grandmother at the time. "It was really bad."

Paramedics airlifted Mejia Salazar to Kendall Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Arriving officers said they were able to catch up with Rojas, who was still carrying the bloodied knife, after the stabbing.

"The subject did in fact have a large knife on him," said Miami-Dade police detective Roy Rutland. "After he stabbed this man in the hallway and left him to die, he then went out a back door."

Police said they later learned that Rojas has a brother living at the nursing home.

Rojas told police he and Mejia Salazar had an argument several months prior and that he held a grudge against the janitor since, according to the arrest report.

Gilda Just, a nurse assistant who worked with Mejia Salazar, paid a visit to his home early Thursday. She wanted to check on his wife.

"He's a very good co-worker. He was a very good man and respectable," added Just.

Just said Mejia Salazar came to the U.S. from Cuba a few years ago.