Miami authorities have charged Saul Garcia Gonzalez, 40, with the murder of his girlfriend, 37-year-old Nerida Martel, whose body was discovered in a canal days after she disappeared in early October.
Gonzalez initially claimed that Martel might have been taken into federal custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Investigators later determined he fabricated the claim and are now treating the case as a homicide.
Martel was last reportedly seen on October 6, when Gonzalez said he left home to take their two-year-old daughter to daycare. Discrepancies in Gonzalez’s statements emerged, including conflicting accounts of whether he dropped Martel at home or a bus stop. Cellphone data showed Martel’s phone never left the home, while Gonzalez’s device traveled to the canal where her body was found.
Martel’s body was recovered on October 11 near SW 168th Street and SW 205th Avenue. An autopsy revealed she died from a gunshot wound to the head. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office officially ruled her death a homicide on November 25, the same day Gonzalez was arrested on second-degree murder charges.
Authorities noted a prior 911 call from the couple’s home in May, during which a woman’s scream and a man yelling were heard, along with a child’s voice, though deputies were unable to locate the caller.
Gonzalez appeared in court Thursday, where a judge denied him bond. He remains in custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Detention Center.
Miami-Dade detectives said, “Through investigative means, MDSO Homicide Bureau detectives were able to determine that the victim had been murdered by the subject.”
