2nd suspect arrested in Cape Coral homicide; hate crime investigation for Chabad vandalism

Reporter: Gail Levy Writer: Joey Pellegrino
Published: Updated:

The Cape Coral Police Department held a press conference about a deadly shooting investigation from 2022 and a recent antisemitic hate crime.

Watch below or click here.

According to Cape Coral Police Chief Anthony Sizemore, a second suspect was caught in connection with the shooting homicide of Fernando Batista Montero in June 2022. 41-year-old Montero was killed on the 1800 block of Southwest 10th Terrace. Sizemore says both suspects came down to Cape Coral specifically to kill and rob Montero before leaving Florida.

The first shooting suspect, Jose Maldonado, was arrested in July and faces a charge of second-degree murder. The second shooting suspect, Eduardo Ramon Rogriguez—until now known only by the nickname “the Dominican”—was caught last week in Lexington, Kentucky. He is scheduled for extradition to Lee County.

Eduardo Ramon Rogriguez. Credit: Cape Coral Police Department

Sizemore then addressed a hate crime investigation. A man threw bricks at Chabad Jewish Center and smashed the windshield of Rabbi Yossi Labkowski’s car. Sizemore says CCPD needs tips from the public to help expedite the investigation.

With hate crimes rising nationally, Sizemore said it’s sadly not surprising to see those statistics affect the eighth-largest city in the third-most populous state in the country. He swore, however, that justice would be done.

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