Second suspect charged with murder in fatal Bradenton home invasion, deputies say
.jpg "The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office says Aldo Jean Pierre Armijos-Casillo, 32, has been arrested in connection to a fatal Bradenton home invasion.")
A third suspect tied to a deadly Bradenton home invasion has been arrested in Colorado after police say they intercepted his bus during a traffic jam.
Detectives from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office coordinated with the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force to locate 32-year-old Aldo Jean Pierre Armijos-Casillo, who they learned was traveling from Colorado to San Diego in an attempt to flee to Mexico, according to a news release.
The sheriff’s office says a crash involving an overturned 18-wheeler caused hours of gridlock on Interstate 70 near Vail, Colorado, allowing the Vail police SWAT team to stop the bus and arrest Armijos-Casillo Wednesday night.
Armijos-Casillo faces a murder charge in connection with the Dec. 26 home invasion in Bradenton’s River Club community, which deputies say led to the death of his accomplice, 27-year-old Jorge Nestevan Flores-Toledo.
Speaking during a December press conference, Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said Flores-Toledo and Michel Soto-Mella used a pry bar to enter a home on Hickory Hammock Circle in Bradenton that night just after 9 p.m. The homeowner, alerted by his surveillance system, told his wife to get to a “safe place” before grabbing his semi-automatic 9 mm pistol and walking into a bedroom.
In that room, Wells said the homeowner was “immediately” confronted by one of the masked invaders already inside his home and fired multiple shots, striking Flores-Toledo.
Another arrest in Manatee home invasion shooting
Flores-Toledo was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital and died the following morning, deputies said.
“This is the state of Florida. If you want to break into someone’s home, you should expect to be shot,” Wells said during a press conference the day after the shooting.
Investigators said the other man, Soto-Mella, 39, fled the scene but was tracked down by K9 units and arrested a few blocks away.
The sheriff’s office did not explain Armijos-Casillo’s alleged role in December’s home invasion.
The sheriff’s office said Flores-Toledo, a Mexican national, had an active warrant under the name Anibal Miller-Valencia after serving time for a home burglary in Illinois in 2023. Soto-Mella, detectives said, was a Chilean national who overstayed a 90-day visa that expired in September.
Soto-Mella is expected to appear in court Feb. 6, according to Manatee County court records.
Armijos-Casillo, also from Chile, was in the U.S. on a 90-day visa and will be extradited to Manatee County at a later date, according to a news release.
