'Potential Serial Killer' Arrested After 2 Women Are Found Dead 'On The Side Of The Road'
A Florida man was arrested on Monday in connection to the death of two women who were found a month apart from each other, but at the same location, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced.
Carlos Yadiel Baez Nieves, 25, is facing two counts of first-degree murder for the death of Fatia Flowers, 41, and Nichole Daniels, 44, both of whom authorities believe Baez Nieves targeted because they were “vulnerable.”
“Baez Nieves clearly targeted women he thought wouldn’t be missed. He murdered them and dumped them on the side of the road like trash,” Sheriff John Mina said at a press conference Monday.
According to an affidavit obtained by HuffPost, Flowers was the first body discovered after deputies responded to a report on March 14 of a nude woman “found on the side of the road.”
The Medical Examiner’s Office determined Flowers’ death was “suspicious in nature” after they observed neck injuries that suggested she had been strangled.
Authorities returned to the scene almost a month later on April 17 to find Daniels also nude and “on the side of the road.” Medical examiners determined Daniels “displayed signs of external neck trauma” similar to Flowers.
According to the affidavit, both victims were transient sex workers who resided in the general area where they were found.
Witnesses told detectives they last saw Daniels with a man, who was later identified as Baez Nieves, and “described that she entered into a white Ford style pickup truck.” During the investigation, detectives were able to uncover video surveillance that showed Daniels “entering a very distinctive white Ford pickup truck the night before she was found dead.”
Further investigation showed the truck belonged to Baez Nieves who was later “actively trying to sell that truck.”
“No doubt to get rid of it and any evidence in the truck,” Mina said during the press conference.
Baez Nieves was later arrested for driving on a suspended driver’s license, and after extensive interviewing, he “ultimately confessed” to “killing both women,” according to Mina.
Mina said detectives’ vigilance may have stopped a potential serial killer.
“I’m very confident because of our detectives’ relentless efforts in this case that they stopped Baez Nieves from becoming a prolific serial killer,” Mina said.
