Miami-Dade police arrest man accused of killing a 57-year-old woman in a Doral hotel
A man who fatally shot a 57-year-old woman in a Doral hotel last month was arrested early Thursday morning, Miami-Dade police have announced.
Javon Alexander Washington, 21, faces a charge of second-degree murder with a weapon. The Kendall resident remained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Thursday afternoon.
According to his arrest warrant, city of Doral police officers hurried to the Extended Stay America Hotel, 8720 NW 33rd St., at around 11:15 a.m. Feb. 6 in response to a woman in cardiac arrest. In a hotel room they instead discovered the body of Maritza Ceballos-Henrique in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound to the head.
READ MORE: 57-year-old woman found shot to death in a Doral hotel, Miami-Dade cops say
Miami-Dade detectives say they found condoms, other sex-related paraphernalia and a .40 caliber spent bullet casing in the room. Police also found three cellphones registered to the victim, and further examination revealed she used them to coordinate sexual encounters with potential costumers, including Washington.
The investigation also revealed Ceballos-Henrique had saved Washington’s number to her cellphone with the name “este es ladrón, no recibir,” which roughly translates to “this one is a thief, do not receive.” Text messages also show, detectives say, that Washington began soliciting her for sex in January.
Investigators also matched the bullet casing they found at the murder scene with the same gun used in a shooting at Northwest 30th Avenue and Northwest 87th Terrace in the area of West Little River in Miami on Jan. 21.
On March 22, detectives obtained Washington’s cellphone location data, which they say placed him near the scene of the homicide and the shooting at the corresponding times. License plate reader data from the Florida Department of Transportation confirm, police say, that Washington was near the area of the shooting.
A warrant for his arrest was issued Wednesday and officers put Washington in handcuffs around 5 a.m. Thursday at his Kendall home. His attorney information wasn’t available Thursday afternoon.
