ORLANDO, Fla. – A man wanted in a Central Florida murder was killed by U.S. Marshals in New Jersey, according to the attorney general’s office.
Agents were trying to serve an arrest warrant for murder and attempted murder for Esteban De Jesus, 56, Saturday night in Jersey City for a deadly shooting that occurred in Orlando on Friday.
Marshals said they saw the man around 11:10 p.m. After that time, he was shot by marshals and taken to a hospital, where he died, according to the attorney general’s office.
[TRENDING: Become a News 6 Insider]
According to Orlando police, De Jesus had killed Leonidas Duran, 67, Friday night along the 2000 block of Raper Dairy Road. Investigators said they received a call around 6:43 p.m. saying that someone was being attacked by a person armed with a machete and a gun.
When officers arrived, they said they found Duran with several cuts and a gunshot wound in her chest laying in the grass of an apartment complex. Police said they also found her husband in the doorway of an apartment, also with a gunshot wound.
Duran was pronounced dead at the scene. The husband was taken to the hospital in stable condition, according to police.
Investigators said De Jesus, who is the son of Duran’s next-door neighbor, was quickly identified as the suspect in the attack.
Linda Ramos, a neighbor and witness, told News 6 that she saw what happened, prompting her to call the police.
“He took a machete and started stabbing her with it...” Ramos said. “There was a few people outside trying to stop him from chopping her up with a machete.”
When officers arrived, they pulled out their guns and aimed them at the husband before realizing it wasn’t him who had shot Duran, Ramos added.
The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General is now investigating the events leading to Marshals shooting and killing De Jesus. The office has not released any details about what prompted marshals to open fire.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: