TWO CONVICTED IN GUARD'S DEATH www.privateofficer.com
MIAMI FLA. JULY 8 2007
Three years after the dragging death of an elderly security guard, the wait for justice is over for the victim's family.
Bienvenido Torres, 76, died while on duty at a Tamiami Trail shopping center, dragged beneath a speeding getaway car leaving a trail of blood.
''No one wants their father to die like that,'' the victim's daughter, Magüy Torres, said Friday.
On Thursday, two separate Miami juries found a former stripper and her boyfriend guilty in the death that shocked a community.
One jury found Jason Chaveco, 23, guilty of manslaughter and robbery, and another found Teresa Michelle Padron, 22, guilty of first-degree premeditated murder.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dava J. Tunis sentenced Padron to life in prison. Chaveco will be sentenced in September.
''We never imagined that the job he had chosen to feel useful to society was going to lead him to his death,'' said Torres' son, Felix Torres.
About a month after Torres' death, West Miami commissioners awarded the security guard's family with a ''citizens hero'' award.
Torres, a retired electrician, came to Kendall from Cuba in 2002 to be closer to his family. Though he didn't speak English, he found work as a security guard in October 2003. He was killed six months later.
Police reports say Chaveco snatched a 58-year-old woman's purse as she left a Chinese restaurant with friends. The security guard saw a group of people restraining Chaveco and tried to lend assistance.
That's when Padron, a former dancer at Centro Español, a strip club on the Miami River, approached the group and told them to release her boyfriend. When they refused, Chaveco ordered Padron to run over the crowd with the 1986 Chevrolet they were driving.
Reports say Padron got back in the car, stepped on the accelerator and hit several people, including Chaveco. Torres got caught under the rear axle.
''She dragged him for nine blocks,'' said Gladys Diaz, who was married to Torres for 52 years. ``It was a horrible way to die.''
Torres' body came loose from beneath the car at Southwest Eighth Street and 68th Avenue.
Police arrested Padron at the shopping center, as she returned for Chaveco, who later recovered from his injuries at Jackson Memorial's Ryder Trauma Center.
Chaveco had a previous police record, including charges of domestic abuse, larceny, burglary, fleeing and eluding police, and drug possession.
After Chaveco's conviction, his mother cried.
''We have cried more than her,'' said Felix Torres. ``She will get to see her son. . . . Nothing is going to bring our father back, but they will pay for their crime.''
Three years after the dragging death of an elderly security guard, the wait for justice is over for the victim's family.
Bienvenido Torres, 76, died while on duty at a Tamiami Trail shopping center, dragged beneath a speeding getaway car leaving a trail of blood.
''No one wants their father to die like that,'' the victim's daughter, Magüy Torres, said Friday.
On Thursday, two separate Miami juries found a former stripper and her boyfriend guilty in the death that shocked a community.
One jury found Jason Chaveco, 23, guilty of manslaughter and robbery, and another found Teresa Michelle Padron, 22, guilty of first-degree premeditated murder.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dava J. Tunis sentenced Padron to life in prison. Chaveco will be sentenced in September.
''We never imagined that the job he had chosen to feel useful to society was going to lead him to his death,'' said Torres' son, Felix Torres.
About a month after Torres' death, West Miami commissioners awarded the security guard's family with a ''citizens hero'' award.
Torres, a retired electrician, came to Kendall from Cuba in 2002 to be closer to his family. Though he didn't speak English, he found work as a security guard in October 2003. He was killed six months later.
Police reports say Chaveco snatched a 58-year-old woman's purse as she left a Chinese restaurant with friends. The security guard saw a group of people restraining Chaveco and tried to lend assistance.
That's when Padron, a former dancer at Centro Español, a strip club on the Miami River, approached the group and told them to release her boyfriend. When they refused, Chaveco ordered Padron to run over the crowd with the 1986 Chevrolet they were driving.
Reports say Padron got back in the car, stepped on the accelerator and hit several people, including Chaveco. Torres got caught under the rear axle.
''She dragged him for nine blocks,'' said Gladys Diaz, who was married to Torres for 52 years. ``It was a horrible way to die.''
Torres' body came loose from beneath the car at Southwest Eighth Street and 68th Avenue.
Police arrested Padron at the shopping center, as she returned for Chaveco, who later recovered from his injuries at Jackson Memorial's Ryder Trauma Center.
Chaveco had a previous police record, including charges of domestic abuse, larceny, burglary, fleeing and eluding police, and drug possession.
After Chaveco's conviction, his mother cried.
''We have cried more than her,'' said Felix Torres. ``She will get to see her son. . . . Nothing is going to bring our father back, but they will pay for their crime.''
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