A man accused of murdering two elderly and disabled victims in separate killings in Miami and Miami Beach has pleaded not guilty.
Zsolt Zsolyomi, 25, didn’t appear in court for his arraignment on Wednesday, where his attorney entered the not guilty plea on his behalf.
State attorneys have filed two counts of second-degree murder and one count of grand theft of a vehicle against Zsolyomi, who remains in jail without bond.
Miami-Dade Corrections
Miami-Dade Corrections Zsolt Zsolyomi
Zsolyomi was arrested last month in connection with the two murders after Miami Police said it appeared he was targeting the elderly, gay community.
On Jan. 19, a man was found dead in the driver’s seat of a vehicle near Northwest 14th Avenue and Second Street in Little Havana, according to an arrest warrant. The victim, identified as 71-year-old Rodolfo Fernandez de Velasco, was found with both front seatbelts around his neck.
Police said it appeared the victim had been strangled and then a crash was staged to cover up the murder.
According to the warrant, surveillance cameras nearby captured the vehicle crashing into a fence and a man jumping out of the vehicle and fleeing the area.
Detectives later matched fingerprints from the vehicle to Zsolyomi.
Zsolyomi is also accused of a murder back in November when a man was found dead in his Miami Beach apartment after family members repeatedly tried to reach him, the warrant said.
The victim, a 66-year-old man, was discovered unresponsive with his head and upper body partially submerged in the bathtub with water, according to the warrant. The medical examiner later ruled he died by strangulation.
Detectives discovered Zsolyomi went by the fictitious name “Thomas” and that he and the victim were in an intimate relationship. They found text conversations, pictures of the two together, and doorbell camera footage of the pair entering and leaving the Miami Beach apartment.
“This fella is a really bad guy. He is the epitome of evil. He hunts his prey. He’s patient with his prey, and then he kills them,” Miami Beach Police Chief Wayne A. Jones said at a news conference last month. “There’s no doubt in my mind, had he not been caught, he would’ve done this again and again and again.”
According to detectives, Zsolyomi is a Hungarian national listed as an illegal overstay by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He wore an ankle monitor after he was released from custody from a robbery arrest in Miami Beach in July of 2024.
The murder charges are punishable by life in prison if he’s convicted.
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