In Levy County, 2 defendants were sentenced to prison for murder and torture

Two defendants were sentenced to prison for torturing and killing an Ocala man in Levy County in August 2019.

According to a press release sent Friday by the Office of the State’s Attorney for the Eighth Judicial Circuit, Judge William Davis sentenced two of the four defendants in the Nov. 5 murder of Jafet Padin Rodriguez, 33, of Ocala:

• Omar Alexis Rodriguez Ortiz, 43, was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree intentional homicide and a consecutive 30-year prison sentence for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
• Christian Cardano Cirilo, 32, was sentenced to 30 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for second-degree murder.

Jesse Torres, 36, and Kesia Moraima Mundo-Munoz, 39, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit first-degree murder several months ago. Torres was sentenced to 20 years in prison and Mundo-Munoz to 15 years.

The sentence stemmed from an incident on August 11, 2019, when the Levy County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) responded to a body found on the side of a road in a rural agricultural area in Morriston. An LSCO detective had previously received a BOLO (Be a Lookout) from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office after detecting Rodriguez’s vehicle engulfed in flames.

LCSO Cpl. Michael McNeil and the Eighth Circuit medical examiner identified the victim as Rodriguez.

McNeil and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agents Yolandra Carbia and Barry Kays led the investigation. led to the arrest of Ortiz, Cardona and Torres in July 2020 and Mundo-Munoz in September 2020.

According to a story published on Mainstreet on July 22, 2020, Detectives learned through multiple interviews a common theory about why Rodriguez was killed. Detectives were able to track Rodriguez’s movements from a local nightclub in Ocala to a private residence in Ocala the night he was killed. Detectives learned the victim was attacked due to a misunderstanding regarding text messages related to the love triangle. During the investigation, detectives learned that the victim did not send text messages and was not involved in the love triangle.

The investigation revealed that the defendants lured Rodriquez to his home in Mundo-Munoz in Marion County, where he was beaten, put in his own vehicle, driven to Morriston and shot to death. The defendants then set fire to and abandoned Rodriguez’s vehicle near a secluded apartment complex in Marion County.

Based on these investigative leads, Detectives were able to locate the home where the victim was attacked, which ultimately led to the identification of the three men who violently attacked and killed Rodriguez.