Judge won’t release man who shot cyclist on Miami causeway. ‘A crime was committed.’

The gunman who fatally shot a Miami cyclist on the Rickenbacker Causeway won’t be getting out of jail to await trial for murder.

A Miami-Dade judge, after an hours-long hearing on Wednesday, ruled that Kadel Piedrahita could be a danger to the community if released on bond.

Piedrahita is claiming self-defense in killing Alex Palencia, a 49-year-old divorced father of two who was riding with a large cycling group on the William Powell Bridge portion of the causeway early on Aug. 14.

After watching numerous videos and hearing from police, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alberto Milian disagreed that it was self-defense. “A crime was committed and your client was the person who committed that crime,” Milian said.

Wednesday’s hearing filled in many details that were unknown when Piedrahita, 42, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder a few days after the killing.

Prosecutors say that Piedrahita was well-known in cycling circles because he liked to ride his motorcycle alongside groups of riders, video recording them and agitating them. His son was also a cyclist and was riding along that day with a group calling itself the Don Pan Riders.

Miami Detective Ariadna Rodriguez, testifying on Wednesday, recalled that one eyewitness described Piedrahita as “very violent.”

“He’s very aggressive and constantly pulling guns out on people,” Rodriguez said.

The cyclists had grown frustrated with Piedrahita because he kept riding his motorcycle too close to the group, not allowing them to pass one another during the rides, the detectives said. Sometime before the killing, he posted a Facebook video complaining about them — the video was taken down by Facebook.

Piedrahita responded, the day before the shooting, by posting an expletive-filled rant on Facebook Live.

“I am doing this video to call out Alex Palencia,” Piedrahita yells in the video played in court on Wednesday. “When you see me, come at me because I’m going to f--- you up. You messed with the wrong guy.” He ended the tirade telling Palencia he was going to cut him in half and added, “Touch me to see my fury. You will know my fury.”

That morning, Piedrahita was riding his motorcycle alongside the group, recording live on Facebook.

“His purpose during the ride was to protect them, encourage them, film them for social media purposes, and most importantly to supervise his child who was riding as part of the group,” according to his defense lawyer.

Palencia rode up to him, pointing at him and telling him to stop recording. Video footage shows Piedrahita kicking Palencia, who wobbles, nearly falling over and stopping on the right shoulder.

Defense lawyer Sabino Jauregui insisted that the video shows Palencia touched Piedrahita first as the two rode side by side.

“I don’t see it,” Judge Milian said.

Piedrahita stopped on the left shoulder, then crossed the causeway to meet Palencia on the right shoulder. A fight ensued. One witness, Carlos Sosa, who had a video camera attached to his bicycle, said he tried to break up the fight.

Frame by frame, Jauregui analyzed the shadows of the cyclists, insisting that they showed Palencia punched Piedrahita first.

But Detective Rodriguez said eyewitnesses told her Palencia started to walk back in retreat, had his hands in the air and dared Piedrahita to shoot. “Sácala! Sácala!” Piedrahita told his son, instructing him in Spanish to take a gun out of a bag.

“In fear, he asked for his backpack and his firearm,” Jauregui told the judge. “He wants to save himself.”

Piedrahita fired one shot from a .45-caliber revolver into Palencia’s stomach.

“The defendant was not acting in self-defense. His life was never in danger,” said prosecutor Eduardo Rivero. “The victim was retreating. His hands were up. He was not armed with any firearms, any knives, anything.”

This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 4:36 PM.