ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County man is accused of killing his girlfriend’s mother on her 93rd birthday.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said Javier Rosado Martinez, 54, is accused of killing Dolores Padilla Marrero, 93, in the assisted living facility where she lived on Sunday.
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“This is a tragic and heinous case,” Mina said.
Family members told deputies they dropped Marrero off at her apartment at St. Joseph Garden Courts at 8 p.m. on Sunday, and did a well-being check on Monday when they couldn’t reach her. When they entered her apartment, they found Marrero dead in her bed.
READ: Deputies investigating death of 93-year-old Orange County woman
Sheriff Mina talking about the murder of 93-year-old Dolores Padilla Marrero. Her daughter’s boyfriend is accused of the murder. Details coming up on @WFTV. pic.twitter.com/2zn85U3YfV
— Ashley Edlund (@AshleyEdlund) March 17, 2022
Deputies say Martinez, who previously stayed with Marrero at the apartment, was let into the facility by another building resident on Sunday evening.
Homicide detectives said they found a necklace belonging to Martinez wrapped in a T-shirt near Marrero’s body and Marrero’s missing keys in the apartment where Martinez was arrested.
Marrero’s daughter, Martinez’s on-and-off girlfriend, told deputies she and Martinez got into a fight around 8 p.m. on Sunday and that she suspected he was on drugs at the time.
Deputies said Martinez did not confess to killing Marrero, but said he “blacked out” during the time frame she was killed.
Martinez is facing a charge of first-degree murder. He is being held on no bond.
Family members described Marerro as a “devout Catholic mother who was very private, conservative and wanted to help everyone.”
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