The first-degree murder trial of Armando Verdecia, accused of killing a 23-year-old man and robbing ATMs, began on Tuesday.
Verdecia is on trial for a 2020 shooting at a Southwest Miami-Dade gas station that resulted in the death of Adrian Alvarez.
“Adrian Alvarez was walking from his home to his job at Kentucky Fried Chicken,” prosecutor Aaron Simkovitz said in court.
Alvarez, officials said, encountered Verdecia and another man when they drove up to take his work bag.
“He has his umbrella in one hand and his black bag,” Simkovitz said as he showed surveillance video in court.
The two thieves ambushed him and shot him as he tried to hang on to his bag.
“The defendant shot twice with his firearm, one time striking, right in the leg,” said Simkovitz.
During the struggle, Alvarez held on to the thieves’ car and was dragged across the street and left in a neighborhood near Zoo Miami as the suspects got away.
Body camera video, shared exclusively with 7News, shows officers responding to the injured Alvarez.
“Adrian?” officer Rachael Meadora said. “Did he get shot?”
“Get the bag! Get the medical bag!” the officer is heard saying.
As the victim’s family sat in court, Meadora appeared in court as a witness. Prosecutors played the body camera footage.
“I found out where the victim’s injury was, and we applied a tourniquet,” said Meadora in court.
The body camera video shows the moment responding officers apply the tourniquet.
“Gimme a tourniquet, gimme a tourniquet!” said Meadora.
While Meadora and other officers did their best to save Alvarez’s life, he did not survive.
Officials said Alvarez’s death followed a series of robberies across Southwest Miami-Dade.
“Two individuals committed a spree of armed robberies,” said Simkovitz.
Surveillance video of that day shows two suspects attacking ATM customers and robbing their money at gunpoint.
7News cameras spoke to witnesses at the gas station on the day of the incident.
“I heard two shots,” said the witness.
When police arrived, they interviewed a witness on the scene, about Alvarez’s fatal shooting.
“I heard two gunshots, and then I saw him being dragged all the way here,” said a witness.
“Dragged in the vehicle?” said the officer.
“Well, he was hanging on,” said the witness.
In court on Tuesday, the getaway driver and Verdecia’s accomplice, Victor Calderon, testified against his co-defendant as he was not put on trial.
“Do you recognize state’s exhibit 1E?” asked the prosecutor.
“Yes, sir,” said Calderon.
“On Aug. 8, 2020, did you and him commit a series of robberies that resulted in the death of Adrian Alvarez?” asked the prosecutor.
“Yes,” said Calderon.
Officials said the bag that the two men robbed from Alvarez contained his work clothes and $1.29.
Verdecia’s trial will resume on Wednesday.
