Serial Killer Targeted Homeless

Miami FL

09 February, 2022

7:26 PM

Description

By Johania Charles, Miami Times Staff Writer, the Miami Times Feb 8, 2022 Willy Suarez Maceo, a suspected serial killer responsible for violent attacks against three homeless individuals, is being held without bond following a court appearance on Monday. The professional real estate agent has no prior criminal record. After an ongoing investigation into the 2021 incidents that took the lives of two out of three victims, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office announced charges against Maceo at a press conference last Friday. Willy Suarez Maceo (Miami-Dade Corrections) "These types of anonymous, seemingly haphazard killings can create a real sense of fear and unease, particularly among those who may identify as part of a targeted population," said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle on Friday, standing beside law enforcement personnel and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. The crimes occurred in Miami's downtown and Wynwood neighborhoods. "In this case, the targeted population were Miami-Dade homeless men who sleep outdoors in our community. These are some of our most vulnerable individuals in our community …" continued Fernandez Rundle. "The evidence pieced together by the City of Miami Police Department's homicide unit has provided what we believe to be sufficient evidence from my office to charge 25-year-old Willy Maceo." Maceo faces two counts of first-degree murder, one for allegedly stabbing 59-year-old Manuel Perez to death Oct. 16 and fatally wounding 56-year-old Jerome Antonio Price Dec. 21, in addition to one count of attempted murder. Serial killings, Fernandez Rundle said, are categorized as such when an unlawful homicide of at least two people has been carried out by the same person in incidents occurring at different times. The senseless acts raise concern about the safety of Miami's more than 900 unsheltered people, 510 of whom are forced to sleep on Miami streets, according to a Homeless Trust Census released last fall. "The violence that people experiencing homelessness are exposed to on a regular basis is horrific and tragic," said David Peery, a homeless rights advocate leading the Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity. "[These incidents] are just an extreme example of the dangers people who are unhoused faced." Peery, who once experienced homelessness himself, says he commends MPD for its detective work and is relieved to hear the perpetrator was caught and charged so that his victims can get justice. Though police have not yet identified Maceo's motive for the killings, Peery believes stereotypes and certain perceptions of homeless people played a role. David Peery (Courtesy of David Peery) "I draw a connection between this deranged person turned violent and certain [City of] Miami commissioners who have engaged in demagoguery and created a climate of dehumanizing people," he said. "When you dehumanize people and place them in a subhuman category, it tips people with mental health issues over and might help them justify horrible actions against the homeless. So we need to tone down the divisive rhetoric and recognize that we're all connected." According to the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), a network of advocates and activists working to end homelessness, 1,852 incidents of violence against homeless people were reported over the past 20 years. At least 515 of those incidents ended in death. "These crimes were likely motivated by the perpetrator's bias against people experiencing homelessness and were facilitated by their ability to target homeless people with relative ease," read the NCH report released last year. "The crimes are a litany of atrocities: murder, beatings, rapes, and mutilations. Victims have died in unfathomable ways. not only have they been shot or stabbed to death, but they have also been set on fire, drowned, or beheaded." Data collected between 2019-2020 reveals that 97% of lethal attacks against the homeless were perpetrated by men. "I would hate to speculate on what drove him to do what he did," MPD Interim Chief Manual "Manny" Morales told The Miami Times. "The mind is such a complex thing. What motivates an individual to do unspeakable harm to another human being is perplexing to me under any circumstances, let alone something as senseless as this." Manuel Morales (Manuel Morales via Twitter) Morales said his department worked hard to solve the gun violence incidents and initially brought in Maceo a day before Christmas Eve last year in connection to the crimes. A timeline leading up to Maceo's arrest revealed that a man had been shot in the head unbeknownst to him while he slept on Dec. 21. He was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition but survived the injuries. Approximately two hours later, Price, who was Black, was found unresponsive after he was shot five times in the back. A black vehicle, which officers later discovered belongs to Maceo, was seen near the scene of the crimes on surveillance footage and a firearm matching bullet casings found at the scene of the crimes was found in Maceo's possession at the time of his arrest. MPD would come to find out that witness descriptions of a Black man in a dark T-shirt fitting Maceo's appearance, and other evidence obtained through a search warrant, would tie him to three separate incidents where homeless people were hunted down. Calling the incidents an abnormality, Morales disclosed that the department has not seen an increase in violent crimes against homeless individuals. "The vast majority of [violent] incidents that we see is between homeless persons where an argument erupts over property space location, time or personal grievances," he explained. "We do not see any trends, patterns or an escalating number of incidents where homeless folks are targeted by non-homeless folks." Nonetheless, Morales said MDP is ready to take precautions to prevent future incidents like what occurred, emphasizing the department's commitment to homeless individuals through programs like the Homeless Empowerment Assistant Team (HEAT) which works to get homeless persons off the street and into shelters. "One of the things I tell my staff is that we're not just [policing] for residents, visitors or businesses, but we police for every single sector of our community," he said. "We took an oath to protect so it is our job to go out there and ensure the safety of everyone." Just months into its implementation, Morales said HEAT helped move 368 homeless people into shelters. Two homeless people watch as a member of the City of Miami's Homeless Empowerment Assistant Team drags away a tent and discarded belongings from a cleared encampment. (Erik Bojnansky for The Miami Times) Peery, who says the obvious solution to protecting homeless people from violent attacks is to end homelessness, does not believe HEAT is as effective. "Officers aren't seen as protectors (by the homeless), they're seen as predators that enable the destruction of their property and possessions," he said, demanding to see more resources poured into permanent housing opportunities. "Getting folks off the street with a focus on permanent housing rather than temporary emergency shelters is the obvious solution. Unfortunately what the city tends to do is sweep homelessness under the rug." Peery embraces encampments as a short-term solution to violence against the homeless, explaining that homeless people could watch out for people in groups as opposed to being isolated by encampment sweeps. Price's family members, who told WPLG that they only found out about his murder through media channels, have set up a GoFundMe account to receive donations for the Homeless Trust to continue to address homelessness in honor of his life. Morales vowed that the department would help and not criminalize those who are homeless, as has been the case with encampment ban legislation passed last year. "As long as I'm here, we will not criminalize homelessness, because being homeless is not a crime," he said. "But we do address criminal behavior that might be done by a person who happens to be homeless. Our efforts are not concentrated on their residential status." The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.