Accused killer of 11-year-old Little Havana girl denied bail

The man accused of stabbing an 11-year-old girl to death in Little Havana, then attempted to make the crime look like a suicide, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in a Miami-Dade courtroom.

“I’m innocent,” said Miguel Ruiz, 42, who faces charges for first-degree murder and occupied burglary.

Judge Jeffrey Rosinek denied him bond.

According to Miami police, Ruiz entered the apartment of his ex- girlfriend, Amaury Alvarenga, stabbed her 11-year-old daughter, Martha Guzmán, on her forearms and throat.

Martha was found by her mother on June 22 in a pool of blood, with a knife in her throat, in their apartment in the 800 block of Northwest Fourth Street.

Police arrested Ruiz Monday. He has refused to cooperate with authorities and asked for a lawyer. It is unclear whether he has a defense lawyer.

Miami Police Chief Manuel Orosa said Ruiz, who has a 3-year-old son with Alvarenga, was upset because Martha had convinced her mother to end up the relationship.

Alvarenga and the girl’s father, Jorge Guzmán, have always maintained that the girl had not committed suicide.

Family members and friends described Martha as a smart girl, pretty and a good student. She was buried a week after her death in the town of Olanchito, Honduras, her parents’ hometown.

The family commemorated the one-month anniversary of her death with a Mass Tuesday night, Guzmán said.

This story was originally published July 22, 2014 at 9:16 PM.