A “potential serial killer” paid to have sex with two women in separate incidents, then strangled them and dumped their bodies before being caught, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said Monday.
Carlos Baez Nieves, 24, faces murder charges in the slayings of Fatia Flowers and Nichole Daniels, whose bodies were found on the side of the road near the intersection of Trevarton and Harrell roads in east Orlando. Flowers, 41, who detectives said also went by Antonia Heath, was found dead March 14. The body of Daniels, 44, was found April 17.
On Monday, Mina said at a press conference that Baez Nieves had the makings of a “potential serial killer” given the short time span between the killings and the similarities in the incidents. Mina added he is working with other law enforcement agencies to see if Baez Nieves, who is from Puerto Rico but moved to Orange County around 2020, had other victims.
The FBI considers serial murder to be “the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events,” a definition under which Baez Nieves’ alleged actions would qualify.
“The fact that he targeted women that he thought would not be missed, leads you to believe that he is a killer and probably would have killed again,” Mina said. “Anytime someone is killed so senselessly, their body just dumped and discarded, it’s awful. We want to make sure they get the justice they deserve.”
According to an affidavit released by the Sheriff’s Office, both women were strangled to death and dumped at the same intersection. Witnesses said each woman had been picked up at the same 7-Eleven store at East Colonial Drive and North Econlockhatchee Trail in a white pickup truck before being found killed. Deputies said that truck was identified as belonging to Baez Nieves after the vehicle’s tag was pinged by a license plate reader near the 7-Eleven around the time he was said to have picked up Daniels there.
Fatia Flowers and Nichole Daniels were both strangled and their bodies dumped at the same east Orlando intersection. When interviewed by investigators, Baez Nieves confessed to killing Daniels during an argument after he said he thought she had taken money from his wallet. He also admitted that Flowers went lifeless after he choked her during sex and said he dumped her body at that same intersection in a panic, the affidavit said.
Investigators surveilling Baez spotted him selling the truck on Thursday. Deputies recovered the vehicle a short time later after conducting a traffic stop on the buyers, according to the affidavit.
Baez Nieves is being held in the Orange County Jail without bond, and court records were not immediately available. No other victims have been publicly identified.
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