A Florida man sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting a neighbor in a dispute over dog feces uttered five chilling words to the victim’s widow.
The tragic incident, which unfolded on June 21, 2015, began when Jose Rey, a resident of Kendall, was walking his dog and it defecated on Omar Rodriguez’s son’s lawn.
Neighbors told authorities that the two men were engaged in a heated argument, which led to Rey being tragically shot three times by Rodriguez, according to CBS News.
Despite medical intervention, the 52-year-old succumbed to his injuries at Kendall Regional Hospital a week later.
The shooter attempted to invoke Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law to claim self-defense. However, in 2021, a judge ruled against his claim, finding that his actions did not constitute self-defense, per The New York Post.
In those proceedings, the convicted man alleged that Rey was threatening his life but prosecutors contended that Rodriguez tried to manipulate the evidence by planting a knife in the victim’s hand.
Nearly a decade after the devastating event, Rodriguez was sentenced to life in prison for the charges of second-degree murder and aggravated assault.
While his victim’s grieving wife, Lissette Rey, was delivering an emotional statement during the hearing, Rodriguez abruptly rose from his chair and lashed out, causing a gasp from those present in the courtroom.
NBC South Florida reported that the 75-year-old told the widow: “The coward was your husband,” before adding: “That’s why I killed him! He cried like a baby.”
Rodriguez, who was handcuffed and in an orange jumpsuit, was immediately removed from the courtroom by multiple officers.
When the hearing concluded, Lisette revealed that she didn’t hear what Rodriguez said to her.
“I wasn’t listening to exactly what he was saying. I was tuning him out…I was just reading my thoughts,” she said. “His words are irrelevant. He is irrelevant in my life right now. He is pond scum.”
The heartbroken woman said she wished capital punishment was an option for Rodriguez but accepted that he would spend the rest of his natural life in prison.
“At the end of the day, Mr. Rodriguez will continue to see his family. They’ll be able to visit him and see him,” she continued. “I’ll never get to see my husband again, so where’s the justice in that? So, at least he is behind bars, and he can’t harm anybody else.”
