Florida to extradite man charged with his friend’s tragic death

MIAMI. – A Florida State federal judge Wednesday night ruled to extradite a young man to the Dominican Republic, where he’s charged with killing a childhood friend after a party in a Santo Domingo neighborhood 15 years ago.

The ruling is another chapter in a case which has drawn interest abroad given the fact that both the accused and the victim belong to prominent Dominican families.

Newspaper El Nuevo Herald reports that Eddy B. Núñez Garrido is the son of ex Telecom Agency director Leopoldo Núñez, whereas the victim, Francisco Alberto Andújar Tejada was the grandson of Rafael "Pucho" Tejada, a figure in the resistance against the dictator Rafael Trujillo, assassinated in 1961.

Federal judge Jonathan Goodman ruled that there was “probable cause to ascertain" that Núñez Garrido, "the fugitive and the same person brought to court, committed the offense for which he is sought in extradition."

A witness testified the killing was accidental when Núñez and Andujar wrestled for the victim’s car keys, because the alleged murderer didn’t want his friend to drive because he had been drinking heavily, according to the Miami newspaper.