MIAMI, Florida (CBS4) ― By all accounts 39-year old Samuel Abate Balcha, a native of Ethiopia, had no enemies. He was well loved by his friends and neighbors and was a hard worker. But on January 1st, 2009 his body was found inside his efficiency apartment. His killer has yet to be found.
Now close friend Lazaro Diaz is making a plea to the community for help in bringing Balcha’s killer to justice.
“He didn’t deserve this, for someone to take his life,” said Diaz.
Miami police detective Fernando Bosch told CBS4’s Liv Davalos they are baffled by Balcha’s murder and don’t really have a motive.
“It’s a mystery why anyone would take his life, he was pretty much loved by everybody,” said Bosch.
Detectives say Balcha was killed possibly on December 30th, his body found days later by a concerned neighbor, his apartment ransacked. Police say Balcha, who was born in Ethiopia and had lived in Miami for four years, was a civil engineer but was working as a truck driver for a delivery company while going to school at Miami-Dade College to learn English.
“Everybody we spoke to said he was a gentleman, a friend, a brother, there are a lot of people that are concerned,” said Bosch.
Anyone who can help police find Balcha’s killer is asked to call Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at (305) 471-TIPS.
3 thoughts on “Miami police baffled by murder of Ethiopian man”
Why the Ethiopian community in Florida organize to find Samuel’s killer as soon as possible? This is very sad a hard working fellow Ethiopian lost his life without any reason. My heart goes out to his family and friends.
Addis
where is the Ethiopian community in Florida? Please do something to this…this is a concern to everyone…please organize something to find the killer.
I am touched by the news. I hope the killer will be found soon. By the way I could not understand his situation, “a civil engineer who had been working as a driver and who had gone to college to learn English?”