By james art Eight years after a woman’s body was found on a Hialeah motel lawn, completely naked and covered in blood, a Miami-Dade jury has recommended that her killer also die.
Last week, the same jury found Ronald Lopez Andrade guilty of the rape and later murder of 30-year-old Yaimi Guevara Machado.
Late Wednesday night, although not all jurors found the crime heinous, atrocious or cruel, by an 8-4 vote they still recommended death as a potential punishment.
The jury also found that first degree murder was committed while the defendant was involved in the commission of sexual harassment.
According to the arrest report, Machado was at the Chesapeake Motel at 935 W. Okeechobee Road with a friend when she was accidentally locked out of her room until she was fully clothed.
Lopez Andrade arrived at the motel lobby around 4:30 a.m. and bought four beers and cigarettes, the report said. He harassed a cleaner and clerk and asked staff if there were prostitutes, the report said.
Lopez Andrade then ran into Machado, who was wearing only a bra and jeans, and gave her his shirt. But when Machado refused Lopez Andrade’s advances, he became enraged and they began fighting, the report said.
Prosecutors say Lopez Andrade raped her and then strangled her to death.
Machado’s body was found on the lawn of the motel completely naked.
The tragic death rocked the South Florida family, and the Hialeah motel was ordered to pay the woman’s parents $12 million for the staff’s negligence in preventing her death.
The lawsuit alleges that staff sold Lopez Andrade alcohol, tried to help him find a prostitute and allowed Lopez Andrade to stay at the motel even though he was not a guest.
The family also claims officers did not evict Lopez Andrade from the property after he sought sexual favors from a housekeeper.
As for the criminal trial, Lopez Andrade will have another hearing later this year where the judge will have the final say on the sentence.
It is the second time this year that a Miami-Dade jury has recommended death. In an 8-4 vote, jurors recommended the death penalty for Israel Granda, a man found guilty of ordering the murder of his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. Granda is awaiting sentencing.