Nine years after the brutal death of 11-year-old Martha Guzman, her alleged killer finally faces his day in court.
Authorities believe that Miguel Ruiz Lobo, 51 killed his ex-girlfriend’s daughter and staged it to look like a suicide on June 22, 2014. This came five months after the victim reportedly convinced her mother, Amaury Alvarenga, to break up with her live-in boyfriend, citing emotional abuse.
Miguel Ruiz Lobo (Miami Police Department)
Alvarenga had filed several restraining orders against him in the months leading up to her daughter’s death, but they were each denied.
The victim was found dead in her Little Havana home in Miami, Florida, by her own mother. Both of her wrists were sliced open and there was a knife wound to her neck.
Martha Guzman (Miami Police Department)
Although Alvarenga stated that her daughter had a history of self-harm, police said that the cuts on her wrists were too deep for her to have been able to self-inflict the neck injury.
Originally, the defendant claimed that he had not seen the victim for days before her death, but surveillance footage from a neighbor placed him at the house for 32 minutes on the day of the murder.
His DNA was later found under the girl’s fingernails and he had visible scratches on his face and arms at the time, police said.
Lobo is facing first-degree murder charges and if convicted, a potential death sentence.
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Miguel Ruiz Lobo death penalty trial for Martha Guzman