A Miami neighborhood near Northwest 14th Avenue and 59th Street turned into a crime scene shortly after 11 p.m. on Sunday, when officers and Miami Fire Rescue crews responded to find a man’s body folded head-down inside a residential garbage bin, his face bloodied and showing visible trauma near his left eye. Police have since charged 70-year-old Danny Barbee with unlawful disposal of a human body and tampering with physical evidence, identifying him as the man seen on surveillance video rolling the bin down the street earlier that night.
According to WSVN 7News, the gruesome discovery began with an unusual tip from strangers. Four men riding bicycles told a passing witness to check a nearby garbage bin because they believed a body might be inside. The witness looked, found the body, and called police.
Surveillance footage reviewed by investigators reportedly showed a man wearing a high-visibility shirt rolling the bin to the east before walking back west on foot. Additional surveillance footage allegedly showed the man later leaving the area on a moped. Officers soon spotted Barbee riding a moped nearby, wearing clothing that matched what appeared in the video, and arrested him following a traffic stop at Northwest 18th Avenue and 66th Street.
Search Warrant Turns Up Cartridge Casing, Wiped-Down Bedroom
After obtaining a search warrant, investigators said they found a spent cartridge casing and apparent blood spatter on a living room ceiling inside a nearby home. The station’s report notes that suspected blood droplets were also found in front of and on the property, along with wheel tracks leading into the yard. Investigators reportedly said a bedroom appeared to have been wiped down in an apparent attempt to destroy or conceal evidence.
Barbee told investigators he had gone to the home to visit a woman he knew as “gang gang,” with whom he said he had a relationship, per the same account. He also said an unknown man arrived at the home and asked whether the victim was there, and that he told the man he did not know. The unknown man then reportedly entered the home to look for the victim, according to Barbee’s account to investigators.
What the Charges Could Mean
The tampering with physical evidence charge against Barbee falls under a category of Florida law that covers altering, destroying, concealing, or removing a record, document, or other item with the purpose of impairing its availability in a pending or imminent criminal investigation. Under Florida Statute 918.13, such a violation is generally classified as a third-degree felony, though the law allows for an elevated second-degree felony charge when the underlying matter involves a capital offense.
The victim’s identity has not been released, and the circumstances surrounding his death remain under investigation. Police have not disclosed what led to the apparent violence inside the home or how the body ended up in the bin.
