Miami-Dade State Attorney: For Immediate Release: Two Charged In 2016 Murder Of FIU Student

Press release from Miami-Dade State Attorney:

July 27, 2021

Click here for PDF release.

Miami (July 27, 2021)  – Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle and Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III announce two arrests in the December 2, 2016 homicide of 21-year-old Michael Zaldua, a Florida International University student and freelance photographer.

Zaldua was shot and killed in an off-campus parking garage connected to the 4th Street Commons apartment complex in Sweetwater. Arrested today were 25-year-old Donterio Rashad Fowler, a Pinellas Park resident, and 23-year-old Keondre Quamar Fields, a St. Petersburg resident. Both individuals are being charged with First Degree Murder with a Deadly Weapon as the alleged perpetrators in the death of Michael Zaldua. On the date of the homicide, both Fowler and Fields were attending school in Miami-Dade County. 

At the scene of the homicide, investigators located cash scattered around the victim’s body, a loaded Glock magazine also near the victim’s body, and a firearm inside of his jacket pocket. A large amount of blood was prevalent at the crime scene over which a vehicle had driven through, leaving a clear tire impression. A subsequent search of the victim’s car revealed several large size Ziploc bags containing suspect marijuana and a small baggie of suspect cocaine. Additional evidence was gathered since the homicide and supplemented the original investigation, leading to the charging of Fowler and Fields. 

“When a loved one is killed and there is no arrest, the family tragedy only deepens as time passes and questions remain unanswered,” commented Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “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.” 

“This case is another example that the tireless and determined work of the Miami-Dade Police Department Homicide Bureau and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office is constant,” said Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III. “Loved ones deserve to know and deserve proper closure.”

For more information, please contact Ed Griffith, Public Information Officer at (305) 547-0535 or EdGriffith@MiamiSAO.com.

This press release was produced by Miami-Dade State Attorney. The views expressed here are the author’s own.