One autumn night in 2017, a 911 operator got a call from someone who had walked outside

to see a man lying on his back next to a disabled car.

The caller later told deputies that he called out to the man in the ditch to see whether

he needed help.

He got no answer.

The victim suffered multiple bullet wounds, mostly to the head and shoulders.

The car's front tires were stuck in the same ditch, just a few feet away.

It appeared that the victim, Carlos Cruz, a chevaria, had heard or witnessed a crash

and went to the scene to offer aid.

Carlos lived around the corner and drove to the scene.

That's what detectives concluded early on in the investigation.

Deputies said that while he was helping the motorist with his stuck vehicle, Carlos,

who was 60 years old, was gunned down.

His truck was then stolen, presumably by the same person who had shot him.

It was shortly before 8 p.m. on November 11, 2017, when Voluzia County Sheriff's deputies

responded to Melaga Avenue near the corner of Puritan Street in Deltona, Florida, about

30 miles northeast of Orlando.

They pulled up and found Carlos sprawled on the ground and bleeding from his gunshot

wounds.

Paramedics could not revive him, and he was pronounced dead a few minutes later.

There was no gun, nor anybody else, found at the scene.

The car stuck in the ditch was a silver 2015 Chrysler.

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