Pedro Bravo, convicted in the 2012 murder of University of Florida student Christian Aguilar, died in state custody on Wednesday.
Bravo was being held by the Department of Corrections at Okeechobee Correctional Institution. He was serving multiple life sentences for first degree murder, kidnapping-false imprisonment, poisoning, improper transportation of human remains, giving false information to law enforcement in a missing person case, tampering with evidence and providing false reports.
According to a press release from State Attorney Brian Kramer, Bravo filed a motion on March 7 for post-conviction relief after alleging new evidence. Bravo also said an inmate who testified against him during trial was recanting their testimony.
The State Attorney’s office found probable cause that Bravo had made up these claims, and Kramer recently filed new charges alleging racketeering, conspiracy to commit perjury, perjury in a capital proceeding and tampering with a witness in a capital proceeding. Two others, Michael Angelo, 39, and Kelcie Edwards, 32, were also charged in that case and arrested. They are both still in custody and their cases remain open.
Bravo was ordered to return to Alachua County to face these charges. His hearing was set for March 23. The Inspector General of the Florida Department of Corrections is investigating his death.
Christian Aguilar went missing on Sept. 20, 2012, and his body was found more than a month later. Surveillance video gathered at the time at Best Buy on Archer Road led police to believe that Bravo was the last person seen with him that day.
A jury in 2014 found him guilty on all seven charges related to Aguilar's death. Judge James Colaw sentenced him to life in prison with no possibility of parole for the first-degree murder conviction.