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Undocumented immigrant could be first killed under new Florida law
Devoun Cetoute, a cops reporter with the "Miami Herald," joined FOX 35's Garrett Wymer on Florida Live to break down a Hungarian national charged with two counts of murder in South Florida, who could be the first case of an illegal immigrant issued a mandatory death penalty for a capital crime under the new state law.
MIAMI, Fla. - An undocumented immigrant who allegedly killed two gay disabled men in Florida could be the first person killed under a new law. Hungarian national Zsolt Zsolyomi, 25, is being charged with the second-degree murder of the two elderly men in the Miami area.
The new law was passed by the Florida Legislature on Jan. 28. The immigration bill includes a provision mandating the automatic imposition of the death penalty for "unauthorized aliens" convicted of a capital offense, despite longstanding United States precedent and international law prohibiting mandatory death sentences. Legislators acknowledged the bill could face legal challenges because of the mandatory sentencing provisions, but at least one senator expressed confidence the bill would survive scrutiny.
What is the new law?
Big picture view:
The new bill was introduced during a short special legislative session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis, leaving little-to-no-time for public review. State senators said they received the full text of the legislation just ten minutes ahead of conversation.
The Florida House and Senate both voted in favor of the bill, sending it to the desk of DeSantis, who has publicly stated he intends to veto the bill, because he found clauses unrelated to the mandatory death penalty provision "weak."
However, it is undetermined if the new bill will actually be applied and carried out following its controversy.
Will Zsolyomi be the first to face the death penalty under the new law?
Local perspective:
The law was passed just a few weeks before Zsolyomi's arrest. Now, he could be the first case of an undocumented immigrant being issued a mandatory death penalty under the law.
Devoun Cetoute, a cops reporter with the "Miami Herald," joined FOX 35's Garrett Wymer on Florida Live to discuss both the case and the new law.
Records show Zsolyomi came to the U.S. on a 90-day visa back in October 2022. However, he overstayed his visa and then went on an alleged crime spree that started with petite theft and ended with the two capital murders. Once officials found out that Zsolyomi had overstayed his Visa, he was issued an ankle monitor.
Police say there was a five-month period after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said they ordered Zsolyomi's deportation where there were "some questionable decisions" that led to him not being deported.
Officials said that the ankle monitor was supposed to keep Zsolyomi on ICE's radar until a deportation process was established. However, it appears that did not happen. ICE continued to lose track of Zsolyomi until he was arrested for the two murders.
Cetoute said ICE has been "pretty much radio silent" on the specific details of this portion of the case.
"When Miami Beach police figured out that they had a murder on their hands in November, it only took a few weeks for them to track down Zsolyomi, and once the second murder was committed, they were almost instantly able to connect him to that murder, as well," Cetoute said. "So, for police it was a quick process to identify and track this man, but for ICE, for some reason, it took a lot longer than that."
Cetoute said he has witnessed some exasperation from the local community in regard to the case.
"When these murders were told to us, police were saying everything up until that this man was a serial killer," Cetoute said. "The way that they described it to the media and the public was that this man had a practice and a way of killing these men that depicted that there are other people that could be at risk or were at risk from him. … From that sense, you have the community thinking that ‘Uh oh, do we have something very serious here?’ At the same time, they're learning that this man should have never been on the streets in the first place. It really boils the anger a little bit."
What led to the arrest of Zsolt Zsolyomi?
The backstory:
Zsolyomi is first accused of a murder dating back to Nov. 21, 2024, when a man was found dead in his Miami Beach apartment after family members repeatedly tried to reach him, an arrest warrant shows.
Officials said they discovered the man unresponsive with his head and upper body partially submerged in the bathtub with water. The medical examiner later ruled the man died by strangulation.
The man that was killed was identified as a 66-year-old Carlos Alonso Villaquiran, and police said they discovered he was in an intimate relationship with Zsolyomi, who went by the fictitious name "Thomas."
Reports show detectives found text conversations, pictures of the two together, and doorbell camera footage of the pair entering and leaving the apartment.
Officers said text conversations also revealed Villaquiran had accused Zsolyomi of beating and stealing from him, as well as sent a photo of his injured eye.
Although Zsolyomi first denied beating Villaquiran, he then told police: "Sometimes I don't know what I do when I'm drunk" and that he apologized several times.
Villaquiran had threatened to call the police on Zsolyomi if he didn't return his stolen property, and Villaquiran revealed that he knew Zsolyomi's real name, date of birth and jail number.
Police say security cameras caught Zsolyomi entering and leaving the apartment the night before Villaquiran’s body was found inside.
Hungarian national Zsolt Zsolyomi, 25, is charged with the second-degree of murder of two elderly men in Florida, police say. (Credit: Miami Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation Center)
According to an arrest warrant, the second man was found dead on Jan. 19 near Northwest 14th Avenue and Second Street in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami.
The man was found in the driver's seat of a car with both front seatbelts around his neck.
Investigators said the man had sustained trauma and concluded his manner of death as a homicide.
Police later identified the man as 71-year-old Rodolfo Fernandez de Velasco.
Miami Police Chief Manny Morales said they discovered the incident was not an accident, and that an individual had been in the car and strangled Velasco before then staging the car crash in an attempt to cover up the homicide.
Surveillance cameras in the area were able to capture the crash crashing into a fence, as well as document a man jumping out of the car and running away, according to an arrest warrant.
Detectives said they later matched fingerprints from the car to Zsolyomi.
Reports show Zsolyomi was arrested Wednesday, Feb. 19.
Who is Zsolt Zsolyomi?
What we know:
Zsolyomi is a Hungarian national currently listed as an illegal overstay by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to official reports.
Police said he wore an ankle monitor after he was released from custody from a robbery arrest in July 2024 in Miami Beach.
The robbery arrest warrant said that Zsolyomi told police his name was "Thomas Kray" at the time.
‘Had he not been caught, he would’ve done this again and again and again’
What they're saying:
"Our detectives conducted a comprehensive investigation in partnership with the City of Miami Police Department, resulting in the successful apprehension of Zsolt Zsolyomi," Miami Beach police Chief Wayne Jones said in a press release shared on social media. "We remain committed to pursuing justice for the victim and his family."
"This fella is a really bad guy," Jones said in the press conference. "He is the epitome of evil. He hunts his prey. He’s patient with his prey, and then he kills them. There’s no doubt in my mind, had he not been caught, he would’ve done this again and again and again."
What you can do:
Authorities are asking anyone who may have been victimized by Zsolyomi or who has information related to similar cases to contact the Miami Police Department’s Homicide Unit at (305) 603-6350.
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The Source: This story was written based on information shared in court documents and police records, as well as from previous press conferences and an interview between Devoun Cetoute, a cops reporter with the "Miami Herald," and FOX 35's Garrett Wymer on Florida Live on March 5, 2025.