Elise Gregg / Staff Writer
Two men have been arrested for the murder of Michael Zaldua, an FIU student who was shot to death in 2016 in a parking garage near the Modesto Maidique Campus.
Miami-Dade Police detectives arrested Donterio Fowler, 26, and Keondre Fields, 23, today in Pinellas county, and will extradite them to Miami for trial on first-degree murder charges.
The murder, which ocurred nearly five years ago, was likely the result of a drug deal gone wrong.
The victim, Michael Zaldua, 21, was a freelance photographer and FIU student. He was shot just before 11 p.m. on Dec 2, 2016 inside the garage of the 4th Street Commons apartments complex, home to many FIU students.
Zaldua’s body was found shortly after, along with cash, a loaded Glock magazine, and a gun, according to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office,
The Miami Herald reported that upon searching Zaldua’s car, officers also found multiple bags of marijuana and one containing what was suspected to be cocaine.
Although detectives were unable to find a murder weapon, one witness told police that an associate had given it to Fowler, who was driving a black 2014 Dodge Charger. Fields, a passenger in the rear of the car, was likely the shooter based on the bullets’ trajectory.
After the original investigation, officers also found blood on the bottom of Fowler’s Dodge Charger matching Zaldua’s DNA. Other evidence — such as a 9mm casing found in the trunk and video surveillance showing a Dodge Charger entering the garage — supplemented the previous evidence.
Zaldua’s phone also showed records of calling Fowler’s cell phone days before he was killed. The account was registered under NFL player Dante Fowler’s, but used by his brother Donterio.
A probe into the original case was handled by MDPD homicide bureau’s cold-case squad which has also been handling investigations into the Surfside condo collapse.
A previous PantherNOW article covered the incident two days afterwards. Students who spoke with PantherNOW expressed concern with FIU’s slow response.
“The University has no excuse to not have alerted us as quickly as possible about the situation because the shooter (to my knowledge) has not been caught,” said J.C. Greenup, a then-senior psychology major, to student media.
Ariana Olivero, a former student who lived in the apartments, added that the building should have “implemented better safety procedures, namely cameras and controlled access to the garage area.”
While the tragic shooting occurred nearly five years ago, those involved in solving the case and arresting the alleged perpetrators hope that family and friends of Zaldua can take comfort in the case moving forward now.
“Hopefully, the arrests of the alleged perpetrators of this homicide will provide some solace to Michael Zaldua’s family in the knowledge that the Miami-Dade Police Department and my prosecutors never stopped searching for those responsible for his death,” said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle in a statement.
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