A Hialeah man who was detained in New York is believed to be responsible for the fatal shooting of Cuban reggaeton star El Taiger in Miami earlier this month, the city's police chief said.
Damian Valdez-Galloso, 49, was taken into custody in New York City Tuesday by Miami Police working with the NYPD and the U.S. Marshals Service, Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales told reporters.
He's being held on an out-of-state extradition warrant for violations connected to failure to register as a sex offender, but police are working with the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office to charge him in the El Taiger shooting, Morales said.
Police had announced earlier this month that Valdez-Galloso was being sought for questioning in the shooting of the singer.
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El Taiger's manager and friend Teresa Padron believes they're one step closer to justice.
“Thankful to God they were able to locate him,” Padron said. “We can put this to rest once and for all and hopefully police can release the video so we can understand what happened that night.”
The 37-year-old El Taiger, whose real name was Jose Manuel Carbajal Zaldivar, had been found unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound in the back of an SUV near Northwest 9th Avenue and 17th Street back on Oct. 3.
He was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in extremely critical condition and died from his injuries days later, on Oct. 10.
Morales said it's believed the singer was fatally shot by Valdez-Galloso at Valdez-Galloso's home in Hialeah, and Hialeah Police are involved in the investigation.
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"I know that there's a lot of speculations out there that El Taiger could have been tortured before, I mean this is a horrific crime and his life was taken in an unlawful manner, but there's no evidence to indicate that he was tortured in any way before he was killed," Morales said.
No other suspects are being sought in the shooting, Morales said.
Records show Valdez-Galloso has a criminal past and is a registered sex offender after having sex with a minor. He also served prison time for false imprisonment and was arrested three years ago for grand theft in Broward.
