ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A man has been cleared of charges in the deadly stabbing of a 52-year-old woman and Orange County deputies now say his roommate is the killer.
Luis Alfredo Narvaez, 28, now faces a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Maria De Los Angeles Paulino. News 6 has decided to no longer name the man who has been cleared of charges.
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Investigators said Paulino was stabbed 16 times and was found dead inside a car on May 10, 2023. Officers said at the time that a witness found a knife in the grass nearby, which they were able to pull DNA evidence from. Investigators said they also found blood from two different people.
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Records show that investigators pulled data from Paulino’s phone in September, showing that her last two calls had come from a phone associated with the man who was later cleared of charges.
In November, analysis of the DNA evidence from the knife came back, showing three different people’s DNA — including Paulino, the exonerated man, and Narvaez, though he was unidentified at the time.
In December, the exonerated man was picked up by law enforcement in Lubbock, Texas, where Orange County detectives questioned him, according to a news release. Investigators said the man admitted to knowing Paulino, adding that he would buy drugs from her. He said Narvaez, who was one of his roommates, had asked to use his phone to call Paulino to buy cocaine.
The exonerated man said he did not know what happened after that, because he had gone to bed, but claimed Narvaez later told him Paulino would no longer be available to sell them drugs because he had killed her, the release said.
Detectives questioned the man about why his DNA would be on the weapon used in Paulino’s death and the man suggested that the knife came from his apartment.
Investigators said they later questioned the man’s other roommates who confirmed Narvaez’s confession.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement later arrested Narvaez in North Florida, where detectives were able to get a search warrant for his DNA. Records show Narvaez’s DNA was found to be a match for both the unidentified DNA found on the knife and the second blood sample found in the car where Paulino was left.
Detectives said Narvaez confessed to the stabbing when confronted with the DNA evidence.
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