A Florida man has been arrested after he allegedly killed his roommate for throwing his food away.
Bryan Marquez, 22, was detained on Sunday 12 February, with police saying that they responded to a call to a house in Fort Pierce on Florida’s eastern coast after an individual reported that they spotted blood in the yard and what seemed to be a shallow grave.
As officers got to the area, they discovered a body partway buried in a hole 18 inches deep with a foot “partially exposed,” according to Law & Crime.
Arrest records state that law enforcement gathered blood, rocks, gloves, plywood, shovels, and a blanket from the backyard.
An autopsy revealed that a Hispanic man between 35 and 45 years old had been buried in the yard. He had severe injuries to his face, as well as a broken nose and several broken ribs.
Mr Marquez was interrogated by law enforcement and immediately detained because of a separate arrest warrant, officials said, according to Law & Crime.
At the police station, he was asked about the body found at his home. Police said that he confessed to having killed his roommate, whom he only knew as “Guanajuato”.
The arrest report states that Mr Marquez said that the roommate had thrown his plate of food on the ground and that he disrespected him, Law & Crime reported.
While he didn’t take any action at that time, Mr Marquez reportedly said that he changed his mind after having a few drinks and chose to go after Guanajuato. He said that he punched Guanajuato in the ribs, face, and nose, knocking him to the ground where he grabbed dirt and gravel, pushing it into his mouth.
He then yelled at Guanajuato to stand up, but he didn’t move, at which point he realized that the roommate had died, documents state.
Mr Marquez said he chose to drag the body across the yard, and dig a shallow grave to bury Guanajuato before going to bed.
Mr Marquez is now in jail on a charge of first-degree murder.
Sgt Charles Donnon from the Fort Pierce Police Department told CBS12 that “the officers that arrived on scene first were taken off guard”.
“Where we found the decedent was a very small place, and at first, they were very concerned that it was a child, so everybody was on edge right from the beginning,” he added.
Sgt Dannon said the owner of the home called the police when he spotted the leg, leading police to Mr Marquez as he also lived on the property.
“He lived on the property. He rented a small shed, just on the north side of the property from the homeowner,” Sgt Donnon said. “There was an altercation between them earlier in the day over food. He didn’t like that our victim had thrown food away. He indicated that he got intoxicated throughout the day, approached him at night, and that’s what he did what he did.”
“We received information on Tuesday that he had already contacted family and was getting a bus ticket to get back to Mexico, so this is when the hairs stand up,” Sgt Donnon added.
Mr Marquez was in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and both he and the victim were in the US illegally, according to CBS12.
