A “potential serial killer” has been apprehended for the murders of two women on separate occasions, allegedly brutally dumping their bodies at an intersection like “trash,” Orange County Sheriff John Mina said during a Monday morning press conference.
Carlos Yadiel Baez-Nieves, 25, was arrested in connection with the deaths of Fatia Flowers, 41, and Nichole Daniels, 44, whose bodies were found a month apart in March and April, Mina said.
Baez-Nieves, on separate occasions, picked up Flowers and Daniels, who both work as sex workers, in his white F-150 truck. He offered money for sex with both of the victims and then proceeded to strangle them to death afterward. He then drove them to the same intersection and “pushed their lifeless bodies out of his truck,” Mina stated.
“He targeted women who he clearly thought would not be missed,” Mina said.
The victims’ bodies were recovered at the same Orlando intersection within a month
Fox 35 Orlando reported, “On March 14, Flowers’ naked body was found at the intersection of Trevarthon Road and Harrell Road, according to an arrest affidavit.” Her cause of death wasn’t immediately clear, but ruled suspicious in nature, according to Mina.
On April 17, Daniels’ nude body was found at the same intersection, according to the arrest affidavit, per Fox 35 Orlando.
How he was eventually caught by deputies who recognized his truck
The similarities triggered an investigation that ultimately uncovered surveillance footage of Daniels getting into Baez-Nieves’ white F-150 truck at a 7-Eleven on the night she was murdered, as disclosed by Mina.
Deputies were later able to catch Baez-Nieves because he listed the white Ford F-150 truck for sale, and they recognized the truck from the surveillance footage, according to WKMG-TV, a CBS affiliate.
“He killed two women in a month’s time, so to me, that is the definition of a serial killer. But I think this is a person who is clearly capable of doing this, and may have done it in the past, and the fact that he targeted women that he thought would not be missed leads you to believe as well that he is a killer and probably would have killed again,” Mina said, per Fox 35 Orlando.
Mina said Baez-Nieves confessed to the killing of Flowers and Daniels.
“Because of our detectives’ relentless efforts in this case, they stopped Baez-Nieves from becoming a prolific serial killer,” Mina said.
What we know about the victims Fatia Flowers, Nichole Daniels
The family of Flowers told NBC 6 Miami they were mourning her loss but are relieved “he can’t hurt or harm anybody else.”
Her son Davaughn Whitehead described his mother as “loving” and told NBC 6 Miami, “I get a lot of my happiness from her, she was smart, funny, she was a fighter.”
He said he was at school in Orlando when he heard the news that his mother was murdered.
According to Daniels’ Facebook profile, she grew up in Orlando, but details of her life have not yet been reported in the media since her death.
Mina said he is “very, very grateful and thankful for our great detectives, who knew that Fatia’s and Nichole’s life were meaningful, and that they, of course, deserved justice like all of us,” per WKMG-TV.