Drug Dealer Executed Customer, Charged With Murder: Sheriff

POLK COUNTY, FL — A Bartow man accused by deputies of being a drug dealer who executed a customer was arrested on murder and other charges Friday.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office received a tip on Jan. 20 that a 16-year-old girl was involved in a consensual sexual relationship with 31-year-old Raul De Alejandro Rodriguez from September 2020 to December 2020. The girl turned 17 during the time of the relationship.

"We started an intensive investigation only to have the mother and the 17-year-old victim refuse to cooperate," Judd told reporters at a news conference. "We made at least five contacts between the mother and child to try to get them to cooperate in the investigation where Raul was the suspect. The victim, the 16- and 17-year-old child, met Raul through her dad, because Raul was the dope dealer to her dad."

On Friday, just before 6 a.m., Rodriguez walked into the victim's home, according to Judd. The victim was inside his bedroom holding a 20-gauge sawed-off shotgun. The suspect ordered him at gunpoint to walk inside the living room. A female witness told authorities she heard arguing in the living room, and then she heard a gunshot.

Rodriguez left afterward and walked to his mother's house. Then he got into a black Chrysler 300 and drove away.

Deputies entered the home where the victim had been staying with a search warrant.

"We had to fight our way in," Judd said. "We had to fight our way in with two different cans of wasp spray. There were wasp nests — live wasps nests all through the living room, and the entry area. Our crime scene techs were stunned. There were no windows in some of the areas of the residence. There were holes in the floor, there were stacks of garbage in this residence where our victim was shot down in cold blood as a result of first-degree murder by Raul. He was dangerous."

The preliminary investigation showed the victim was shot once in the chest with a 20-gauge shotgun.

"He summarily executes him in the living room," Judd said. "With the wasps as witnesses. It was one of the most amazing crime scenes I've seen in a long time."

According to officers, when they found him following the shooting, Rodriguez had a single shotgun shell in his pocket and another in a bag.

Rodriguez faces the following charges, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office:

• First-degree murder
• Armed burglary with assault
• Tampering
• Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
• Possession of ammunition by a convicted felon
• Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon