Things turned tragic Wednesday morning during the weekly hammerhead “Don Pan” amateur training race in Miami, Florida USA, leaving one rider dead and everyone wondering how the situation escalated so quickly.
Category 1 racer Alex Palencia (49) was participating in the group training race that rides out to Key Biscayne on the Rickenbacker Causeway when he got into an argument with a motorcyclist who fatally shot him.
The motorcyclist was identified as Kadel Piedrahita, who was livestreaming the training race on Facebook, which he often does according to other riders. Piedrahita’s defense attorney, Sabino Jauregui, said his client shot Palencia in self-defense under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law.
Here is the livestream video from Piedrahita, confrontation starts at 1:36 with shot fired less than a minute later at 2:26.
Witnesses say Palencia and Piedrahita, were arguing and cursing when the cyclist kicked the motorcyclist, causing him to loose control.
Both Palencia and Piedrahita then stopped and the confrontation continued, until Piedrahita fired a single shot.
Piedrahita then called 911 and tried to render aid to Palencia until medics arrived.
After being transported to the hospital, Palencia later died.
Piedrahita was questioned by Miami police, but later released. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office is continuing to investigate and will determine whether Piedrahita will be charged.
UPDATE 8/16/19 3:12pm: Motorcyclist Kadel Piedrahita has been arrested by Miami Police and faces charges of second-degree murder and aggravated assault.
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