One Hispanic lured another to his death using an elaborate ruse on Facebook

Israel Nieves set up a fake profile for a woman called Ty-Ann and flirted with Jason Rodriguez for weeks online before inviting him to "her" house. But as Rodriguez, a 19-year-old bodybuilder, waited outside in his car, Nieves walked up to the window and calmly shot him in the face and neck, detectives say. Rodriguez died a week later in hospital. Details of the case were revealed in records from the Orange County Court, Orlando, where Nieves, 19, faces a charge of first-degree murder with a firearm. Police say that Nieves, who had recently broken up with a girl Rodriguez was dating, set up a fake Facebook profile in the name of Ty-Ann and used it to build a relationship with his victim using emails and online chat. When Rodriguez pressed for a phone call and a face-to-face meeting, Nieves asked a female friend to play the role. She maintained the charade by engaging in a video chat with him, later telling police that she thought it was just a prank. She invited Rodriguez to an address in Orlando that she told him was hers, and he drove there in his green Honda Accord car, records show. But instead of a meeting with Ty-Ann, Rodriguez, a student at Valencia Community College, was confronted by Nieves. Nieves chased and fired at a witness who saw the shooting, police say, but they escaped unharmed. The witness gave detectives a detailed description of the shooter, who was wearing a bandana and a skullcap, a red long-sleeved sweatshirt, dark trousers and white shoes. Detectives who later obtained a search warrant retrieved a black ski mask, black bandana, black gloves and a .32-caliber pistol from a bedroom at Nieves's parents’ home. Police discovered the relationship with "Ty-Ann" through Rodriguez’s computer. Although Nieves went to great lengths to cover his tracks, even creating a fake phone number to swap texts with his victim, computer experts found evidence on his iPod Touch, email and iTunes accounts. Nieves denied his involvement when he was arrested, but later broke down under questioning and admitted that he was only trying to scare his rival and gain evidence to show his ex-girlfriend that Rodriguez was cheating on her. He claimed not to remember the night of the shooting, in February 2011, because he had been drinking and smoking embalming fluid. Nieves had a rocky and sometimes violent relationship with his ex-girlfriend. When they broke up, he emailed her a picture of himself clutching a gun. He is also alleged to have raped her and threatened her family. He is being held without bond at the Orange County Jail, and is also charged with the rape of a 14-year-old girl he met online.