Silvio Izquierdo-Leyva

Case record: Silvio Izquierdo-Leyva

Silvio Izquierdo-Leyva was a hotel employee who opened fire inside a hotel crowded with football fans in town for a bowl game. He killed four co-workers and then killed a fifth person as he tried to escape. He carjacked another vehicle without hurting that driver, drove a short distance, and was apprehended by police.

Izquierdo-Leyva was sentenced to life in prison without parole on April 15, 2002.

The offence

On a Thursday afternoon, a housekeeper opened fire inside a hotel crowded with football fans in town for a bowl game. Police said the rampage began about 3 p.m. in the space of just a few minutes.

He killed four co-workers at the Radisson Bay Harbor Hotel. A fifth person, 56-year-old Dolores Perdomo, was shot dead as Izquierdo-Leyva tried to steal her car while fleeing.

Authorities said three others were wounded during the spree. One remained in critical condition early the next day, while the other was in serious condition. The third person was treated and released on the Thursday of the shootings.

Police said the dead and injured were all hotel workers, and the gunman was also a hotel worker.

After fleeing the hotel in a stolen car, he abandoned it near West Tampa’s La Teresita restaurant. He shot and killed a motorist who refused to give up her car. He then stole another car after the driver got out promptly and sped off. Police cornered the suspect on a city street, and he gave up quietly.

Victims

The four hotel workers killed at the Radisson Bay Harbor Hotel were:

• Eric Pedroso, 29, of 3907 N Tampa St.
• Barbara Carter, 55, of 8718 Fountain Ave.
• Jose R. Aguilar, 40, of 101 Newbury Avenue.
• George C. Jones, 44, of 1003 E Poinsetta Ave.

Dolores Perdomo, 56, of 7803 Haversham Place, was killed in her car on Columbus Drive while Izquierdo-Leyva tried to steal her vehicle.

The surviving wounded victims were:

• Jorge Cano, 40, who was in critical condition at St. Joseph's Hospital.
• Charlie Lee White, 43, who was treated for a gunshot wound to the leg and released from St. Joseph's.
• Geraldine Dobson, 53, who was in surgery Thursday night for a gunshot wound to the buttocks.

Shooting details and eyewitness accounts

A waitress, Kathy Pruniski, heard sounds described as “Pop! Pop! Pop!” and assumed they were part of holiday celebrations.

Rafael Barrios, a bellman, saw men and women running out of the lobby and hiding behind cars. He said: “I thought they were playing some game.”

Diana Izquierdo, the suspect’s niece, described being just about to leave with her mother when shots started: “I thought it was firecrackers. My mom was screaming, ‘Diana, come on! Come on!’ ” She was crying and clutching her baby daughter’s teddy bear.

When Izquierdo-Leyva saw Barrios, he pointed a pistol at him through the window. Barrios recognized him from housekeeping and said: “He pointed it at me right through the window.” He said: “He didn’t say a word, but his expression said everything.” He described it as: “Evil—just evil in his face.” Barrios said he watched the man reload a clip and said: “My life was in his hands.” He said he jumped from the car and ran before the man could reload, and that the man walked back into the hotel. Barrios later heard more shots and saw people he worked with lying on the floor shot. Barrios said: “It’s tragic. There’s so many things going through my mind right now.”

Wendy Sobaski, a member of a Missouri women's college basketball team staying at the hotel, said a teammate came face to face with the gunman as she tried to flee. She said: “He told Robyn he wasn't interested in [shooting] anyone else, the team was O.K.”

Carson Woods of Dayton, Ohio, said he was leaving the lobby to retrieve a bag from his car when he heard shots and said: “I heard two pops and saw people running out of the hotel,” and: “I knew I had to get out of there.” He was wearing a Purdue shirt.

A hotel employee, Dolly Guzman, described Izquierdo-Leyva as usually nice and taciturn since he started work there two months earlier, saying: “He seemed weird today,” and “I talked to him and he didn't answer very nicely.” She also said he was known to be involved in witchcraft and once refused to go to a employee party because it was against his religion.

Escape and carjacking

After the hotel shootings, the gunman sped away from the hotel in the Honda owned by Rafael Barrios.

Confesor Rodriguez, a restaurant owner, said he saw the gunman after he abandoned the Honda. Rodriguez described the gunman aiming a nickel-plated handgun at a woman in a four-door burgundy Mercury and telling her: “Lady, give me the car.” Rodriguez said that when the woman did not comply, the gunman shot her through the driver’s side window.

Rodriguez said that after being shot, the woman reversed and began to back up. The gunman moved on to the next car and shot at a Jeep traveling south on Lincoln Avenue; Rodriguez said the vehicle was hit but the driver sped away.

Rodriguez said the gunman asked whether an SUV had a standard or automatic transmission before taking it. Rodriguez said: “It was the owner’s lucky day.” and that the car had a stick-shift and the gunman wasn’t interested.

Rodriguez then said a white Chevrolet Celebrity station wagon heading toward him on Lincoln Avenue was stopped, and he described the gunman as stepping from the curb as Angel Marteliz came to a stop. Rodriguez described the gunman pointing a nickel-barreled gun at Marteliz and that Marteliz told him: “Take the car.” Marteliz later said: “Thank you,” and “I knew to give him the car.” He said: “I didn’t argue.”

Police said the gunman carjacked another vehicle without hurting that driver and drove a short distance before he was apprehended.

Family and background accounts

Nely Rodriguez, 16, said she was surprised but not alarmed when Izquierdo-Leyva burst through the front door at 3023 Green St. She said: “Where's everybody at? Where they at?” She said: “He seemed like he was paranoid, kind of scared,” and that he was Liza Izquierdo’s uncle.

Liza Izquierdo, 16, described that she sometimes visited a friend at that house and said: “He must wear white,” and described his custom of being dressed entirely in white.

Sheena Vazquez, 14, said: “He must have been crazy but he sure didn't seem like it.”

Izquierdo-Leyva’s niece, Liza, described the gunman as not targeting her or any family members and said: “My uncle came in just shooting,” and: “He was chasing Mommy through the halls.”

Izquierdo-Leyva’s family described him as quiet and not outwardly violent before the rampage. Liza Izquierdo said he was the quiet type and that he appeared to hold things in.

Izquierdo-Leyva returned from a visit to Cuba the month before the shootings. His family said he had begun studies to become a Santero, a priest in the Santeria religion, and that he dressed in the color of purity described in Santeria lore.

Weapons and firearms

Police identified the weapons as a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and a .38-caliber revolver.

When Izquierdo-Leyva was handcuffed, he was carrying two firearms. Police Chief Bennie Holder said one was a 9mm pistol bought from the Floriland Mall flea market on Jan. 2, and the other was a .38-caliber revolver purchased from Nationwide Sports by an unknown person.

Investigation and legal process

Izquierdo-Leyva was arrested and charged with five counts of first-degree murder. Police Chief Bennie Holder said he was arrested and charged with five counts of first-degree murder and that there were also three counts of armed carjacking.

He was formally charged during an initial hearing before Hillsborough County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Holloway. He was charged with five counts of first-degree murder and three counts of armed carjacking.

Police Chief Bennie Holder said after the arrest that investigators did not have a motive for the shooting. He said: “At this time we don’t have a motive for the shooting,” Holder said. “Apparently he’s not concerned about what happened. He’s upstairs sleeping.”

Mental illness and defendant statements

After pleading guilty, Izquierdo-Leyva told doctors he did not know what drove him to shoot. Speaking through his lawyer, he said he did not know.

He told doctors that “evil voices bedeviled him,” and that he thought co-workers laughed behind his back because they thought he was gay.

Six doctors agreed he suffered severe mental illness during the shooting rampage on Dec. 30, 1999.

He told doctors that a man he attacked in Mobile, Ala., in 1997 touched his buttocks and that voices in his head told him it had ruined his life.

To quell his torment, he turned to Santeria, a religion with African roots that involved sacrificial rites.

When co-workers smiled or laughed, Izquierdo-Leyva thought they were enjoying a joke at his expense. The account described that he took two guns from his car and stalked the hotel halls while unleashing a barrage of bullets.

Prosecutors said he intended to put the names in freezing water, a Santeria rite to “freeze out” perceived evil intentions against him. It was stated that investigators found Santeria artifacts and the names of two co-workers he had written down, and that one of the names was Carter.

Sentencing

Izquierdo-Leyva pleaded guilty to five murders. In exchange for life in prison without parole, the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office dropped its call for the death penalty.

Circuit Judge J. Rogers Padgett sentenced him to life in prison without parole.

Appeals and outcome

No appeal outcome was included in the material provided.

Aftermath

Loved ones of the victims packed the courtroom after the plea, and multiple people said they did not hate Izquierdo-Leyva and would pray for him.

Coretta Perkins, the granddaughter of Jerline Dobson, said: “This man is evil.” “He killed people for no reason. He needs to die.”

Spontaneous applause filled the aisles as Perkins took her seat.

Sylvia Freeman said after the sentencing that she had wanted execution and said: “I wanted him to burn.” She later said: “He killed my father, the state kills him, the cycle just continues,” and: “The killing needs to stop. He should just be in a one-man cell and stay there.”

Freeman said: “I don't think he's insane.” She said: “To run somebody down like cattle, you mean to tell me that's insane?” and: “I don't think so. He knew who he wanted.”

Katrease James, who lost her fiance, Eric Pedroso, said: “I don't think he's crazy.” She said: “Crazy people don't pick and choose their victims.” She added: “I don't know what the reason was for it, but he meant to do it.”

When investigators searched his belongings, they found Santeria artifacts and the names of two co-workers he had written down, including Carter.

Izquierdo-Leyva’s family members described him as having no criminal record in Florida or Alabama, and described his earlier traffic citations and lack of criminal record in Mobile.