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Miya Marcano: Suspect Armando Caballero was accused in March of attacking woman over a cancelled date

While the woman identified ‘Armando’ to authorities , the case was closed with no charges due to the lack of evidence

Justin Vallejo
New York
Monday 04 October 2021 20:30 BST
Family, community demand justice for Miya Marcano
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Before Armando Caballero was the prime suspect in the murder of Miya Marcano, he was accused of smashing the bedroom window of another woman who had turned down his romantic advances.

Mr Caballero, 27, was found dead of an apparent suicide soon after he was named as a suspect in the disappearance of Ms Marcano, 19.

About six months earlier, a 23-year-old woman reported Mr Caballero to police after a bedroom window was smashed shortly before midnight on 17 March, according to WESH2.

In body camera footage following the attack, a Seminole County Sheriff’s deputy can be heard saying: "We have a broken window. There’s a weight that was thrown into the window. She doesn’t know who.”

The unidentified woman later said she suspected the maintenance worker of her apartment complex, “Armando”, after she turned down his romantic advances, according to the incident report obtained by WESH2.

The woman initially agreed to go out on the date but changed her mind after he requested to move up the date, according to Click Orlando.

The Sheriff’s Office confirmed to the outlet that the woman identified Mr Caballero. She provided the Sheriff’s Office with a note he had written to ask her out.

While Mr Caballero’s fingerprints were identified on the note to the woman, WSH2 News reported that no fingerprints were found on the black, five-pound gym weight thrown through her window at the Sabal Club apartments, the same complex where Mr Caballero lived and was found dead.

The woman reportedly told authorities she believed “Armando” was responsible for the attack because he felt rejected, but the case was closed with no charges due to the lack of evidence connecting Mr Caballero to the crime.

Mr Caballero was employed as a maintenance worker at the Arden Villas Apartments since at least June, where he is reported to have become "obsessed" with Ms Marcano.

Ms Marcano, both a tenant and office worker at the apartment complex, repeatedly rejected Mr Caballero’s romantic advances before she went missing on 24 September. Her body was found dead on Saturday in a “wooded area” near the apartment building.

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