MIAMI – A man charged in the murder of Cuban reggaeton artist Jose Manuel Carbajal Zadivar, known professionally as El Taiger , will remain in jail.
On Thursday, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy Glazer denied bond for Damian Valdez-Galloso , 49, who is charged with second-degree murder.
“Is that the correct charge? It looks like he shot him in the head and then dragged his body and put him in a vehicle and the victim subsequently died. Wouldn’t it be a first-degree murder charge?” she asked of the prosecutor in court.
El Taiger was discovered with a gunshot wound to the head, on Oct. 3, in the back of an SUV in Allapattah on NW 17th Street, near Jackson Memorial Hospital. However, police say he was shot at a home on SE 5th Street in Hialeah, where Galloso was renting.
According to the state, Valdez-Galloso shot El Taiger at the Hialeah home and then left him in the SUV near Jackson Memorial Hospital. The prosecutor said the state needs to prove the murder was premeditated for it to be a first-degree charge and they are still working on gathering that evidence.