Man arrested in Miami burglary where grandfather was fatally shot in front of granddaughter
MIAMI — A family member has been arrested in the Miami burglary that led to a grandfather being shot in front of his granddaughter on Thursday morning.
City of Miami Police announced on Friday that they have arrested and charged Carlos Manuel Rosales, 38, with second-degree murder for killing Luciano Matute, 61, the arrest affidavit stated.
Around 8:31 a.m. Thursday, Miami Police were called out to several reports about a man shot on the floor of an apartment building at 753 SW 5th St. When officers arrived, they found Matute lying on the foot of a staircase and suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. He was transported to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died.
During the investigation, officers spoke with Matute's granddaughter, who witnessed the incident. About 15 minutes before he was killed, Matute's granddaughter called her mother to tell her that there was an unknown man — later identified as Rosales — inside of their apartment. The mother then called Matute, who was at a laundromat not too far from the apartment. Matute then left the laundromat to go find and make sure his granddaughter was safe.
Security video near the apartment showed Matute arriving around 8:26 a.m. and beginning to climb up the stairs to his apartment to find his granddaughter. Three minutes later, Matute is seen falling down the stairs and the granddaughter running down to him. Immediately after, Rosales is seen running down the stairs and running away from the apartment building.
Other witnesses and more security video helped police track down Rosales to Southwest 6th Street, where he was seen getting into a white Toyota Tundra and driving away. A license plate reader was then able to find him later Thursday afternoon at the intersection of Southwest 17th Avenue and 8th Street, where they confirmed that the truck belonged to Rosales.
Later, police then found the Tundra parked in front of 734 SW 4th St., where Rosales, another man and a woman were inside. Shortly after, officers conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and transported Rosales and the other two people to Miami Police's homicide office to be interviewed, where he confessed to Matute's murder.
During the investigation, police also learned that Rosales was the granddaughter's step-uncle and the Special Victims Unit launched an additional, unrelated investigation into Rosales. After that investigation, he was also charged with lewd and lascivious molestation of a child and exhibition on a child when it was revealed that he had also sexually abused his step-niece since 2022.