More than 700 miles from the Waynesboro street where a stab wound killed Eduardo “Piku” Herrera, authorities tracked down the suspects in his slaying, one riding in the speeding black-primer Ford Taurus police had been seeking for almost a week.
On the Fourth of July holiday, Putnam County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office deputies notified Waynesboro police that they’d arrested David Luna Sanchez, 21, of Lyndhurst, and Abeil Vazquez, 18, of Waynesboro, Waynesboro police Sgt. Kelly Walker said Tuesday.
The men were wanted on second-degree murder charges in the June 27 killing of Herrera, 38, of 260 N. Commerce Ave.
Walker said authorities arrested Sanchez after deputies pulled over a black Taurus for speeding. Sanchez, a passenger in the car, provided a false name, authorities said.
Deputies also arrested Armando Real-Lopez, 21, of Harrisonburg, the driver of the Taurus, on charges of driving on a suspended license.
Vazquez later was arrested in nearby Crecent City, Fla., at his aunt’s home, Walker said.
Authorities pulled the Taurus over about 4:45 p.m. in Pomona Park, almost 80 miles south of Jacksonville, according to a statement from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.
After finding nothing in a warrants search on the false name Sanchez provided, authorities permitted him to “walk away,” the statement said.
Walker said Sanchez placed a Florida license plate on the Taurus. Authorities discovered the warrants on the men after running the vehicle identification number.
“It was a good thing we knew the VIN number,” Walker said.
Deputies tracked Sanchez down in a nearby park where they made the arrest, Walker said.
Authorities since shortly after Herrera’s killing had been seeking a primer-black Taurus.
Police said Florida authorities planned turn the suspects over to federal marshals for transport back to Virginia.
Herrera, of Puerto Rico, was stabbed at least once in the chest at 9 p.m. June 27 in an alley behind the apartment complex at 260 N. Commerce Ave., where he lived. He was the second resident of the complex killed in five weeks.
Roughly a year ago, Sanchez pleaded guilty along with two others to beating Herrera with a baseball bat.
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