Destin, FL (November 19, 2018) - The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call at 7:40 on Sunday evening from an apartment complex on Mountain Drive in Destin. Upon their arrival, they found Gabrila Espinal Lainez, 17, lying facedown on the ground just outside of the front door of the apartment.
The police were called to the apartment complex by an unidentified male 911 caller who indicated that Miss Lainez had been stabbed multiple times in the abdomen. The caller also implicated that Kevin Ordonez-Garcia was the person that inflicted the stab wounds on the young mother of his infant son. When authorities arrived on the scene, Miss Lainez was struggling to breathe and bleeding heavily from stab wounds in her torso. She was immediately transported to a hospital in Destin but sadly, she succumbed to her injuries less than an hour later. The man who had initially called the authorities was able to identify the father of Lainez’z son, Kevin Ordonez-Garcia, as the man who had stabbed her. Garcia is now in jail facing a murder charge.
The couple’s 16-month-old son was found unharmed in the apartment and has since been placed into the care of the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Murder Charges in Florida
Murder is, for all intents and purposes, the most serious crime a civilian can be charged with. There are a lot of questions that have not yet been answered regarding the type of charge that has been given to Garcia. Different types of homicide are categorized differently and they also carry substantially different penalties from one another. These types of homicide fall into one of three different categories: murder (1st degree and 2nd degree), manslaughter, and justifiable homicide. No matter what the initial charge is and what the facts of the situation are, you should never attempt to fight a murder charge without an experienced homicide attorney to navigate you through the lengthy legal process.
It is important to remember that being charged with murder is not the same thing as actually being convicted of murder. The investigators and prosecutors have very strict guidelines and procedures that the law requires them to follow at all times. They have the potential to make any number of unforetold errors in their attempts to move the case along through the criminal justice system. The accused may present a side of the story that reduces a charge of murder to one of manslaughter, or he may even be able to prove his innocence.
If you or a loved one has been arrested and charged with murder, you need to retain the services of qualified legal counsel right away. Musca Law has attorneys with over 150 combined years of experience in handling clients who have been charged with murder. If you would like a thorough, honest evaluation of your case, please contact us by calling (888) 484-5057 as soon as you possibly can. Time is not on your side with a murder charge and you need to act quickly.