A woman who had just started her new life in Miami was tragically found dead inside a car at a high-rise parking garage after going on a date with a new man.
Chastity Charlotte Rodriguez, 35, had recently moved from New York City, when her body was found alongside Darius Coon, who had also relocated to Miami.
The grisly discovery was made Saturday morning on the 10th floor of a garage near Northeast 4th Street and Northeast 2nd Avenue, after someone alerted authorities to a foul odor coming from the vicinity.
Police believe the two were on a date the night they were killed.
‘We received a call from someone telling us that they’re sensing a foul odor,’ Miami Police spokesman Michael Vega said. ‘We now have three to four days of surveillance video to go through – hour by hour.’
Both victims had suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and police say the case does not appear to be a robbery or murder-suicide. Cops are treating it as a homicide.
Rodriguez had been in town for just a week, working a short stint at a local strip club, according to a close friend who said she last spoke to her around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday.
After several unanswered calls, the friend said she tried to file a missing persons report.
Chastity Charlotte Rodriguez, 35, had just moved from New York to Miami when she was found shot dead inside an SUV in a downtown parking garage
A foul odor led authorities to the 10th floor of this high-rise parking garage in downtown Miami, where the bodies were discovered
‘At this moment, I cannot tell you how I feel because it’s new for me,’ the friend told NBC Miami. ‘I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this happened right now to me.’
She added that Rodriguez had met Coon at a nightlife venue just days before the killings.
‘That was the last time we saw a photo of him – sitting at a restaurant table,’ Tashia Porter, Coon’s mother, told local ABC affiliate WXYZ of the couple’s date.
Coon had recently returned to Miami after visiting family and his two children in Detroit. When communication suddenly stopped, his relatives grew concerned.
‘I talk to my son three, four times a day, so when he didn’t call, I knew something was wrong,’ Porter said.
The family filed a missing persons report – and their worst fears were confirmed when police identified Coon’s body on Sunday.
‘To lose a child, it’s nothing I would wish on anyone,’ Porter said.
Rodriguez had also been reported missing by friends in New York. Her brother described her as ‘a good mom to my nephew’ and remembered her as a fun-loving sister, daughter, and cousin.
‘Our detectives are working the case,’ Officer Vega said. ‘They’re trying to obtain surveillance from several locations around the area and piece together what exactly happened.’
Darius Coon was found alongside Rodriguez inside the vehicle
Miami Police spokesman Michael Vega said both victims had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and urged the public to come forward with any tips
Police are urging anyone who was at the garage between July 16 and 19 to come forward.
Coon’s relatives expressed their condolences to Rodriguez’s loved ones.
Coon, remembered as a football coach, fitness lover, and devoted father, leaves behind two children – now struggling to grasp his loss.
‘My granddaughter, she’s 7. She doesn’t understand it. She just knows Daddy isn’t picking up the phone,’ Porter said. ‘His son, he’s devastated. He hasn’t been eating. He’s a football player, and he didn’t even want to go to practice because he’s used to seeing his dad there.’
Darius Coon will be laid to rest in Detroit on his birthday, August 7.
Homicide detectives are continuing to investigate.
