L-R: Jazmin Paez, Gamaliel Soza (booking photos via Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department). Inset: screengrab of the “Rent-a-Hitman” website.
A second arrest has been made in the case of a mother who allegedly went to a parody website thinking she was hiring a real contract killer to murder her child.
Jazmin Paez, 18, was arrested in July for allegedly soliciting the murder of her 3-year old son. As Law&Crime previously reported, she allegedly went to “Rent-a-Hitman” — a fake website — and put in a request for her young son to be murdered. Website owner Robert Innes, alarmed by the specificity of the apparently serious request, flagged police in Miami, Florida.
On Monday, Miami-Dade authorities arrested Gamaliel Soza, also 18, in connection with the alleged plot. According to an arrest affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, a search of Paez’s cellphone revealed conversations between the two teenagers in which Soza appears to have indicated that her child was the only thing that stood between them.
“The kid is the problem, I hope you see that,” Soza reportedly said, according to the affidavit. “All I ever wanted, was to free you, I told you about the kid, you won’t do anything.”
“You do it, and I’ll think about coming back,” Soza also allegedly said in messages to Paez.
Read Related Also: Imani Roberson: Husband Arrested After Mom-of-4’s Body Found, SUV Set on Fire 30 Miles from Home
The affidavit implies that Paez tried to convince Soza that she did what he had apparently wanted.
“Ms. Jazmin Paez stated that she took her son to the woods and left him there to be eaten by bears or drown in the water,” the affidavit says. “[Soza] responded to her message by asking for a picture as proof.”
Like Paez, Soza is now charged with one count of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder and one count of unlawful use of a communications device.
Soza confessed during a post-Miranda interview with police, the affidavit says.
Soza was granted $15,000 bond and ordered to have no contact with the child or anyone under the age of 18, South Florida NBC affiliate WTVJ reported. Paez had previously been granted bond for the same amount and also ordered to stay away from her son.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
