The family of Miya Marcano, a 19-year-old student with ties to the USVI and BVI, who was discovered dead near her apartment in Orlando, Florida in 2021, has initiated a lawsuit against the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and two deputies. The family alleges negligence and civil rights violations in the handling of her case.
According to the lawsuit filed on Monday, the Sheriff’s office and two of its deputies possessed enough evidence to either save Miya’s life or lead to her discovery sooner. The first deputy to respond to Marcano’s apartment for a welfare check, Deputy Samir Paulino, purportedly failed to treat the apartment as a “crime scene” despite “obvious warning signs” that a crime had occurred. This supposed evidence included blood on a pillow and several pieces of broken jewellery.
The lawsuit contends that Deputy Paulino neglected to report the potential crime evidence he observed inside Miya’s apartment to anyone. It further claims that Paulino had enough evidence that “could have expedited the discovery of Miya,” had he prioritized the case.
The legal document explains that Marcano’s father contacted the sheriff’s office to file a complaint due to Paulino’s perceived lack of urgency in handling Miya’s disappearance. Allegedly, Paulino relayed what he had learned to his supervisor, Cpl. Kenneth Dale, over the phone. However, neither shared “extremely critical information” about Armando Caballero – a maintenance man at the complex who investigators later believed was responsible for Marcano’s death.
“Miya died as Paulino, Dale and the OCSO failed to timely respond with
assistance and experienced sheriff deputies to fully investigate the family of Miya Marcano’s life-threatening call”, the complaint stated.
The lawsuit also reports that Dale testified that he was unaware of any information concerning a bedroom window or blood at the scene and that the placement of furniture against the door was inaccurately portrayed to him.
According to the complaint, discrimination against missing women played a role in the failure to conduct a proper investigation. The sheriff’s office allegedly has a policy that provides less protection to missing female victims compared to victims of other assaults by either not responding or deliberately delaying their response.