MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Chilling surveillance video surfaced Friday after an execution-style killing was caught on camera last month in west Miami-Dade County.
The video was captured March 24 inside the parking garage of a strip mall in the 7300 block of Northwest 36th Street.
Leandro Lopez's body was later discovered on the roof of the parking garage by someone who alerted authorities.
Police said the video shows David Paneque, 29, in the parking garage with the victim before he shoots Lopez, 31, execution-style.
The video shows a man in black approaching Lopez near a pickup truck before the victim is fatally shot.
Police said Lopez and Paneque were friends and a motive for the killing remains unclear.
Police arrested Paneque on April 3 on charges of first-degree murder, armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a violent career criminal. The Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office formally charged Paneque in the case Thursday.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Paneque, who is a Cuban national, was formerly in prison in 2008 for an attempted murder and armed robbery. He was released in 2017, taken into the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and ordered deported.
But Cuba wouldn't take him back, so he was released under a court order of supervision.
According to the Miami Herald, Paneque is the leader of a Sur-13 gang affiliate.
The Sur-13 gang, also known as Sureños, was started in California and now has different branches throughout the country.
The Miami Herald reported that the gang has ties to the Mexican Mafia prison organization and is made up of mostly members of Mexican or Central American descent. A Cuban member of Sur-13 is uncommon.
Paneque is being held at the Metrowest Detention Center.