News and Investigations

On December 28, 2022, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Puerto Rico Police Department arrested 23-year-old Jeremy Otero Marrero of Lake Wales on a Polk County Warrant for First Degree Murder. 

The warrant is the result of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigation of the murder of 35-year-old Luis Contreras Marrero of Lake Wales, who was fatally shot around 11:30 p.m. Christmas Eve, December 24, 2022, at his home in the Enchanted Grove Mobile Home Park on North Scenic Highway in unincorporated Lake Wales. Detectives arrested 23-year-old Fernando Vega Mangual of Dundee for providing False Information during a Capital Felony Investigation (F3) and 30-year-old Tasha Cintron of Lake Wales for providing False Information during a Criminal Investigation (M1) during the initial stages of the investigation. Both Magual and Cintron lied to and misled detectives during the investigation.

Jeremy Otero Marrero is the victim’s brother. Marrero is currently being held in Puerto Rico and will be extradited to Polk County.

“Our detectives did a great job putting together the information and evidence to arrest Marrero. We sincerely appreciate the professionalism of the Puerto Rican Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service in helping to bring Marrero to justice.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff

The PCSO Emergency Communications Center (ECC) received a 911 call at 9:02 p.m. on December 25th, where the caller reported finding a dead person at a residence in Enchanted Grove Mobile Home Park. When deputies arrived, they found Contreras Marrero deceased and lying just inside the front door of his residence with a gunshot wound. 

Through their investigation, deputies discovered that two men, Magual and Marrero, left a gathering at Marrero’s house and traveled to the Enchanted Grove Mobile Home Park, where Marrero shot his brother, killing him. 

Detectives later found evidence in Marrero’s vehicle linking him to the murder. Both men have made admissions linking them to the homicide.