A 39-year-old man is now at the center of a tangled two-year investigation, with detectives saying he is tied to both a 2023 Hialeah motel shooting and the later killing of the same victim at a Miami motel. Jean Felix Fuentes-Gonzalez was taken into custody Thursday and is being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, according to public records. The case stretches across city lines and calendars, pulling in Hialeah police, Miami police and Miami-Dade sheriff’s deputies.
Suspect tied to Hialeah motel shooting
Investigators say the first encounter unfolded just before 5 p.m. on Aug. 10, 2023, when Hialeah officers arrived at the Hialeah Airport Motel and found 38-year-old Rudy Quesada in Room 209 with multiple gunshot wounds. Quesada was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where he underwent surgery and survived that attack. Details from that scene, along with surveillance images and descriptions, are laid out in new arrest paperwork that detectives used to identify a suspect, according to Local10.
Victim later killed at a Miami motel
Months later, on Feb. 2, 2024, Quesada was gunned down at the Ernesto Motel near NW 40th Avenue and Flagler Street in Miami. The City of Miami Police Department lists the case on its unsolved-homicides page, where a public flyer offers a $5,000 reward and urges anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers or the Homicide Unit, as detailed by the City of Miami Police Department.
Traffic stop yielded evidence, authorities say
According to investigators, the break in the case came after a June 24, 2025 traffic stop by Miami-Dade deputies, who pulled over a vehicle suspected of being involved in a narcotics deal. In the backseat, deputies reported finding a brown bookbag that held a firearm. Shell casings from that gun were later matched to casings recovered at the Miami motel homicide scene. Court records also reference a prior 2023 arrest in which, authorities say, Fuentes-Gonzalez used a wig to hide his face, according to Local10.
Charges, custody and next steps
Fuentes-Gonzalez has been booked on charges of attempted first-degree murder, grand theft of a vehicle, possession of burglary tools and loitering and prowling. Authorities have not said whether prosecutors plan to pursue additional charges tied to the Miami killing. He remains in county custody without bond, and online jail records indicate an immigration hold. Anyone with information about Quesada’s slaying is urged to contact Crime Stoppers or the City of Miami Homicide Unit, which is offering a reward for tips, as detailed by the City of Miami Police Department.
