But this week, Broward prosecutors opted not to pursue a case against him, records show.
Jose Wilson Padilla-Padilla, 42, was arrested in February 2023 when a deputy in Florida’s Panhandle pulled over a Nissan Altima that crossed a double yellow line. During the traffic stop, deputies learned that Padilla-Padilla was wanted for an Oct. 20, 2007, murder under the alias Wilson Padilla-Diaz.
Padilla-Padilla was accused of being “El Tigre,” the suspected triggerman in the shooting death of 28-year-old Wilson Zelaya, who was killed inside the International Sports Bar at 3927 SW 16th St. in Fort Lauderdale.
Zelaya was playing video games in the back corner of the bar when “El Tigre” confronted him and shot him multiple times, including in the chest, according to Fort Lauderdale police reports. He was dead when police showed up.
In the Wednesday memo, prosecutor Pascalle Achille said a single witness provided a sworn statement identifying the shooter as a man named Wilson Padilla Diaz. Police were initially unable to obtain a photo of “El Tigre,” but when they did, the witness identified him as the shooter.
At least nine people were at the club at the time of the shooting, according to Fort Lauderdale police reports. But only two reported witnessing the gunfire.
One witness described “El Tigre” as a man with a tear-drop tattoo. Another identified “El Tigre” as Wilson Padilla-Diaz and said Zelaya was shot after announcing that he wanted to kill “El Tigre’s” brother “Joe” for starting a relationship with his girlfriend.
As tension bubbled, Zelaya armed himself with Corona beer bottles, the reports state. That’s when “El Tigre” fired multiple shots — and “Joe” kicked the victim twice. The pair then left the bar.
Prosecutors, the memo says, have tried to locate the witness, but his whereabouts are unknown because he’s undocumented. No one else has come forward with information about Zelaya’s killing.
At the scene, investigators collected three .25 caliber shell casings, a pair of sunglasses, beer bottles, Styrofoam cups and cigarette butts, according to the reports.
But the forensic evidence didn’t link Padilla-Padilla to the murder — and a gun was never recovered, Achille states in the memo.
Information provided by Assistant Public Defender Tayron Lopez, who represented Padilla-Padilla, also raised doubt whether he was even in the U.S. at the time, Achille said. Lopez presented prosecutors with documentation — including a birth certificate, Mexican driver’s license and work registration from 2003 — that shows Padilla-Padilla wasn’t in the country at the time of the murder.
“Notably, based on the documentation provided by the defense Mr. Jose Wilson Padilla was never known by the name Wilson Padilla Diaz,” Achille said in the document.
The records also indicate that Padilla-Padilla entered the U.S. at some point in 2001 but was later denied entry in 2005 and 2010, the memo states. The Miami Herald reached out to Lopez but hadn’t heard back as of Friday afternoon.
In 2021, fingerprints provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement turned out to be a match to Padilla-Padilla, according to the police reports. The investigation also uncovered that Padilla-Padilla had applied for a U.S. visa with a Honduran passport — and had repeatedly entered the country, being arrested and deported each time.
According to authorities, Padilla-Padilla went undetected by immigration officers because he provided different variations of his name when detained.