Saul Garcia Macias (Marion County Sheriff’s Office) and a sign posted at a memorial for Sofia Lugo (WCJB:YouTube screenshot)
A 21-year-old man in Florida was arrested this week for allegedly killing his 17-year-old girlfriend, blaming the crime on fictitious “masked men,” then disappearing for two weeks and claiming he had been lost in the woods. Saul Garcia Macias was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with one count of homicide — dangerous depraved murder without premeditation in the slaying of Sofia Lugo, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, deputies at about 12:55 a.m. on Dec. 10 responded to a report regarding a suspicious death at a residence located in the 1000 block of NW 111th Court in Ocala, Florida. The home is about 80 miles northwest of Orlando.
Upon arriving at the address, first responders quickly located a female at the scene — later identified as Lugo — suffering from what appeared to be a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, deputies and medical personnel said Lugo’s body was located on the floor in her bedroom “with a significant amount of blood around her.” Her body was in the home of Garcia Macias’ mother, who told authorities that since she found Lugo’s body she had been unable to locate her son.
An examination of the body revealed that Lugo suffered a “penetrating wound to the front left side of her throat beneath her chin” that appeared to be from a “close or contact gunshot wound.” There were no other signs of trauma to her body, but deputies noted that she had a “freshly done” tattoo on her right arm that said “Saul.”
In an interview with detectives, Garcia Macias’ mother initially said she awoke that evening to a “thump” she thought was her cat. When she got up to investigate, she said she found the victim and used the victim’s phone to call 911. She said she looked inside and outside for her son but could not locate him. She last saw him a few hours earlier, at about 10 p.m., when he said that his girlfriend was coming over to the residence.
However, the mother later admitted to lying during her initial interview. She said on the night of Lugo’s death, Garcia Macias woke up her and her boyfriend and “told her that masked men came into the residence and killed his girlfriend.”
“According to the defendant, they grabbed his girlfriend and shot her,” the affidavit states. “(The mother) advised the defendant she was calling the police and the defendant fled the residence at that time.”
The mother denied hearing a gunshot or any other disturbance before being woken up by her son. She also told police that when she went to check on Lugo, her boyfriend heard her son “say he had done something to the victim.”
Authorities searched for Garcia Macias for 17 days without success when, on Dec. 27, he called the sheriff’s office and said he’d “heard that deputies wanted to speak with him but did not know why.” He told police he was using the phone at a local store and agreed to be picked up by deputies.
During the interview, Garcia Macias claimed he didn’t know what was going on because he had been “lost in the woods.”
“The defendant advised that he had only just found out that law enforcement wanted to speak with him and that he has been lost in the woods since the night of the murder,” the affidavit states. “He advised he has just been walking in the woods until he found the store and asked to use the phone.”
He further claimed that he and Lugo were in his room when he went into the bathroom, which is when the alleged attack took place.
“During that time, he heard a sound outside the bathroom like people walking and then heard a gunshot,” the affidavit states. “He advised that he came back out of the bathroom and found the victim deceased. He did not see the unknown person who shot the victim and did not hear any voices or arguing before the gunshot.”
Garcia Macias further stated that since he left the house, he had not been in contact with anyone because he’d been “wandering lost in the woods.”
Police noted that his sneakers and clothes were clean and different from what he was wearing at the time Lugo was killed.
A judge ordered that he be held without bond, specifically noting that his status as an undocumented immigrant made him a flight risk, Gainesville ABC affiliate WCJB reported.
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