Authorities have arrested a third suspect in connection with a deadly home invasion last month in Bradenton. Police apprehended the man, who was attempting to flee to Mexico, following a traffic accident involving an 18-wheeler in Colorado. The incident occurred around 9 p.m. on December 26, 2024, when homeowners reported two masked men entering their property on the 6700 block of Hickory Hammock Circle, according to FOX 13 News.
The homeowner, confronted with the burglars, fired multiple shots, subsequently killing one intruder and sending the other fleeing. The deceased was later identified as 27-year-old Jorge Nestevan Flores-Toledo, alias Anibal Miller-Valencia. Flores-Toledo, who hailed from Mexico, had an active warrant for a parole violation and was deemed armed and dangerous. Alive and fleeing, encountering a severe traffic blockade caused by the aforementioned truck crash on Interstate 70, Aldo Jean Pierre Armijos-Casillo, age 32, found himself in custody instead of en route to sanctuary.
According to WFLA, Michel Soto-Mella, a 39-year-old from Chile, was found and arrested several blocks away from the crime scene. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the newly caught suspect, Armijos-Casillo, will be charged with felony murder due to his accomplice's death during the commission of the crime.
Armijos-Casillo had been traveling on a bus from Colorado to San Diego when, coordinating with the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, detectives thwarted his escape efforts. Instead of while embarking on his would-be freedom run to Mexico, a twist of fate in the shape of a traffic jam facilitated by police ended his flight. "Detectives from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office coordinated with the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force to locate 32-year-old Aldo Jean Pierre Armijos-Casillo, who they learned was traveling from Colorado to San Diego in an attempt to flee to Mexico," explained the Manatee County Sheriff's Office in a statement obtained by Bradenton Herald. The 32-year-old Armijos-Casillo, who was on a 90-day pass from Chile, is now awaiting extradition back to Manatee County for trial.
