Inset: Oscar Rivera-Peraza (Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation). Background: The Miami bar where workers found a body in an outside freezer (WFOR/YouTube).
Workers in Florida dropping off ice in a freezer behind a bar made the chilling discovery of a body of a man who was beaten to death and ditched inside, cops say.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Department said in a press release deputies and paramedics responded to the Chicagoan Bar at 10702 NW 7th Avenue around 3 p.m. March 28. Deputies discovered the body and blood inside the cooler. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. An autopsy determined the victim, who has not been publicly identified, died of homicidal violence.
On Tuesday, cops arrested 35-year-old Oscar Rivera-Peraza for second-degree murder.
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According to a probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by local NBC affiliate WTVJ and CBS affiliate WFOR, investigators identified Rivera-Peraza as a suspect because he left some fraudulent identification behind at the scene. Investigators took the freezer in for evidence.
After receiving his Miranda rights, Rivera-Peraza reportedly admitted to beating the victim to death with a metal pipe. He then allegedly ditched the body inside the cooler. Cops have not released a motive for the crime. Neighbors told WTVJ that the victim is homeless.
People who work nearby were surprised something like this would happen.
“Even in this kind of neighborhood, I would not expect that here,” an employee told WTVJ.
The suspect was taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center where he is being held without bond. He was assigned a public defender. He has a court hearing scheduled for April 22.
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