Florida real estate agent accused of targeting homeless men

MIAMI — A South Florida real estate agent may be responsible for the killing of two homeless men and the shooting of a third, authorities said Thursday.

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Updated 4:53 p.m. EST, Dec. 25: Willy Suarez Maceo, 25, of Kendall, was charged Friday with premeditated attempted murder, according to Miami-Dade County online court records. He was charged in the non-fatal shooting of a homeless man near downtown Miami, according to the Miami Herald. Maceo made his first appearance in court on Friday afternoon and was ordered held without bond, online court records show.

Original report: Willy Suarez Maceo, 25, of Kendall, was initially jailed early Thursday on a trespassing charge, according to Miami-Dade County online court records. At a news conference later Thursday, Miami Interim Police Chief Manuel Morales said Maceo had been arrested again and would be charged with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder, the Miami Herald reported.

Morales, who called Maceo a “suspected serial killer,” said the real estate agent was charged with the shooting of a homeless man near downtown Miami on Tuesday night, the newspaper reported. The man survived.

Two hours after that shooting, Morales said Maceo is believed to have pulled up in a black Dodge Charger and killed another homeless man, Antonio Price, 56, the Herald reported. Maceo has yet to be charged in Price’s death.

Officers soon found Maceo -- and a firearm -- in the car believed to have been used in the attacks, the newspaper reported. A rapid ballistics test linked his firearm to the two attacks, Morales told reporters.

“Homeless individuals for apparent no reason had been brutally targeted,” Morales said.

Investigators believe Maceo also may have been responsible for the Oct. 16, 2021, attack of another homeless man in Miami, the Herald reported. Killed in the attack was Manuel Perez, 59, the newspaper reported.

Maceo is a licensed real estate broker, WSVN-TV reported. Century 21 lists him as working in Miami, Kendall, South Miami and Palmetto Bay. State records show that he obtained his real estate license on June 13, 2018, WPLG-TV reported.

Morales appealed to the public to come forward if they have information about the victims.

“There may be other victims who suffered at the hands of this ruthless criminal,” Morales said.

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