Accused killers allegedly wanted to frame woman’s murdered ex-boyfriend because someone had ‘to take the fall'

TAMPA, Fla. - A Bay Area couple accused of killing a relative for revenge allegedly planned to pin the murder on the woman’s ex-boyfriend who they are suspected of killing in a staged suicide. 

Daniel Negrete and his girlfriend, Fatima Garcia Avila, 20, appeared side by side Wednesday in matching orange jail uniforms in a Tampa courtroom on a monitor from the Hillsborough County Jail. 

Both are facing two counts of first-degree premeditated murder along with other felony charges.

Tampa judge Catherine Catlin read the charges against them and scheduled them both for bond hearings next week. Prosecutors announced in court they would be seeking pre-trial detention for both defendants.

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Prosecutors accuse Avila of being the mastermind behind the revenge killings.

They say she helped her boyfriend, Daniel Negrete, kill his cousin's wife, Erica Aviles, 22, because they believed she was having an affair with a co-worker. 

On July 18, Aviles was shot outside her home in Dover. Her husband, Cornelio Negrete Jr., was shot too but survived his injuries. 

Prosecutors say Daniel Negrete pulled the trigger, but the deadly plot wasn't over. 

Avila is accused of planning to pin the murder on her ex-boyfriend, Antonio Cuellar Enriquez, and told an informant, "Had to use someone to take the fall. So, who else better than my ex," documents show.

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On July 26, Enriquez was found dead at the Baker Creek Boat ramp in Thonotosassa.

Detectives say Negrete, again, was the shooter, but tried to make it look like a suicide. 

Avila will be back in court next Wednesday for a bond hearing. Negrete has his detention hearing on Friday, August 12.