Marion County Major Crimes detectives arrested a man late Friday night in connection with the death of his roommate following a spat over music.
Jairo Mardoqueo Rodas, 23, of Ocala, was taken into custody and charged with murdering his roommate, Salvador Contrerras. The two men lived on a horse farm in Ocala and detectives believe an altercation between the two led to Contrerras’ murder.
Sheriff’s deputies were called to the horse farm, located in the 10000 block of N U.S. Hwy. 27, last Saturday, where they found Contrerras dead inside his apartment. Deputies learned from a witness that Contrerras had called them that evening and asked for help, claiming Rodas wanted to fight him, a sheriff’s office report states, adding that barn managers told deputies that Rodas had been fired from his job on the farm.
While deputies were conducting their investigation, the sheriff’s department’s helicopter crew in Air One spotted a person walking back to the crime scene. Deputies then made contact with Rodas, who said he wanted to turn himself in, the report says.
After being read his rights, Rodas told detectives that he and Contrerras had been “hanging out and were drinking and listening to music.” Rodas said they got into an argument about the music and an altercation began, the report says.
Rodas claimed that Contrerras was insulting him verbally and that’s
when he stabbed him. Rodas originally fled the scene but later returned to turn himself in because “he knew what he did was wrong and he wanted to pay for his actions,” the report says.
Rodas is being held in the Marion County Jail on no bond. His next court date hasn’t yet been set.