New Information On Fugitive Suicide During Coast Guard Rescue
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A boat used by a fugitive from Texas who committed suicide when the Coast Guard approached him off the Bahamas was stolen from Key Largo.
41-year old Noel Sosa-Ruiz had been on the run since October 28th, when police say he walked into Smiley Dental and Orthodontics in Houston and shot his lover 29-year-old Yodani Cruz-Rojas multiple times. Cruz-Rojas was the mother of three children, and worked in the office.
After the shooting he ended up in Key Largo and stayed with a friend – Scott Cohen.
"It scared me, it really did," said Cohen once he found out what had happened. "It's just weird. I'm still shaky about the whole situation."
Cruz-Rojas then stole Cohen's boat and set out toward Cuba.
Cohen's neighbors in Key Largo said Sosa-Ruiz left a note apologizing to his friend for stealing his boat, it also stated that he knew he was facing the death penalty. He also reportedly told his friends that he suspected his girlfriend was cheating on him.
On Friday the US Coast Guard in Miami said they responded to distress flares spotted by a US Customs and Border Patrol plane on patrol near the Bahamas. They reported the small boat, just 20 feet long, appeared to be dead in the water, with one person aboard.
As a cutter tried to reach the boat, a plane from the Miami Coast Guard Air Station flew to the boat's position, and dropped a radio, raft, food and a de-watering pump to the vessel. Coast Guard officials said Sosa-Ruiz only retrieved the radio and pump, and used gasoline from the pump to get his engine started.
Sosa-Ruiz traveled south for while, the Coast Guard said, and eventually ran out of gas. A private boat, the Four Nabucco, spotted the boat and contacted the Coast Guard. When that boat passed along the disabled boat's registration numbers, the Coast Guard learned they were dealing with a stolen boat, but did not know who was aboard.
According to the Coast Guard, the Cutter Nantucket finally arrived at the boat's location about 6 p.m. Friday. As the Cutter approached, crew members watched Sosa-Ruiz fire a single shot into his chest. When crew from the Nantucket boarded the boat, they found Sosa-Ruiz dead.
Houston Police said Sosa-Ruiz had two children with his girlfriend; they are now in state care. They had recently moved from Florida to Houston.
