Cuban national in US illegally, man accused of burglarizing luxury home after owners killed in Kenya crash
FIRST ON FOX: A Cuban national whom ICE says is in the United States illegally is among two people accused of burglarizing a luxurious South Florida townhome whose owners were killed in a helicopter crash in Kenya.
Geybert Alexander Garcia, 40, and Melany Pavon-Perdomo, 24, were arrested Aug. 25, according to arrest affidavits and Miami-Dade court records reviewed by Fox News Digital. Records show Garcia is a U.S. citizen.
An ICE spokesperson told Fox News Digital that officers encountered Pavon-Perdomo at the Turner Guilford Knight Center after Coral Gables police arrested her on grand theft and burglary charges. ICE lodged a detainer with local authorities on Aug. 25, the spokesperson said.
ICE said Pavon-Perdomo entered the United States at an unknown time and place, has not adjusted her immigration status and remains in the country illegally.
The pair were accused of stealing two luxury vehicles, personal documents, jewelry and artwork — including a sculpture police valued at more than $500,000 — from the residence of Henry Parra, 55, and Adam Hlavaty, 42, who were among seven people killed Aug. 19 when a safari helicopter went down in northern Kenya. The property is appraised at nearly $3 million.
The helicopter was flying from the Loisaba Conservancy to the Ewaso Nyiro area in Samburu County when it crashed in a rugged area near Mount Ololokwe, according to The Associated Press, citing Kenya’s civil aviation authority. The cause remains under investigation.
The U.S. State Department said five of the people killed were U.S. citizens. The crash also killed Miami restaurateur Roger Duarte; José Suárez, who led Telemundo-owned stations in several Florida markets; Ecuador’s intelligence chief, Michele Sensi-Contugi; his wife, fashion designer Stephany Hollihan; and the pilot, Josh Outram.
Parra, a former Navy aviation support technician, later co-founded and managed an aviation maintenance company. Hlavaty was a real estate executive and co-founder of a development company.
"They were a loving couple who cherished their time together, especially traveling, making memories and enjoying life with their family and friends," friends said in a statement obtained by WSVN. "They were hardworking, generous and deeply committed to serving and giving back to their community."
According to an arrest affidavit, the couple left their South Florida home Aug. 12 and had arranged for their housekeeper to visit daily. Investigators determined that the home and its contents were intact after the couple died, police said.
Between the afternoon of Aug. 20 and Aug. 22, someone entered the residence, ransacked it and took personal and business documents, jewelry, electronics and artwork, the affidavit says. Police also reported the theft of a 2023 Land Rover Range Rover and a 2020 Porsche Taycan.
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Investigators used Apple’s Find My service to trace a stolen MacBook to a residence in northwest Miami-Dade, according to the complaint. Location information from a spare key and the Range Rover’s app also pointed to the same area, police said.
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Officers found both vehicles parked near the residence, obtained a search warrant and found Garcia hiding in a second-floor closet, the affidavit says. Pavon-Perdomo was found in another upstairs bedroom, police said.
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The complaint alleges officers recovered documents belonging to the victims, a key fob for the Range Rover and several valuable artworks, including the sculpture. It also says officers found materials consistent with producing or altering fraudulent identification documents.
Garcia was charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, two counts of grand theft of a vehicle and first-degree grand theft.
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Pavon-Perdomo was charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and two first-degree grand theft counts. Their arraignments are scheduled for Sept. 28.
"Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, if you break the law, you will face the consequences. Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S. We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you," the ICE spokesperson said.
An attorney for Garcia and Pavon-Perdomo was not immediately available.