Man charged with killing Rickenbacker cyclist says gun pointed at him first. But gun’s gone
At sunrise on one of the most scenic roadways in America, a shooting was captured on cellphone video and parts of it on Facebook Live — sending shock waves through South Florida’s cycling community.
Avid bike rider Alex Palencia, 49, had stopped his usual ride on the William Powell Bridge on the way to Key Biscayne, when Kadel Piedrahita got off his motorcycle, pointed a gun at Palencia at point-blank range and appeared to shoot him in the stomach. Piedrahita, 41 at the time, was charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle called the cyclist’s death “tragic,” and a “senseless shooting” and she warned that her office wouldn’t tolerate the gun violence.
On Thursday, five years after Palencia was killed, Piedrahita finally got his day in court. During opening statements, his attorney warned jurors that it’s what they won’t see on any videos of during the trial that proves her client’s innocence — a gun that Palencia pointed at Piedrahita before the cyclist was killed that’s still missing to this day.
“The gun won’t be introduced as evidence,” said Miami-Dade Public Defender Yanelis Zamora. “That gun had to have been taken out of there... It was removed from the scene before police officers even arrived.”
The attorney told jurors that her client acted in self defense when he shot Palencia. And, she said, Piedrahita only fetched the weapon after he was struck by Palencia and forced to stop his motorcycle ride, then was beaten by three cyclists who punched him in the face and pounded his head.
“He [Piedrahita] did the only thing he could at that point, defend himself,” Zamora said.
But prosecutors who addressed jurors ahead of Zamora told a different tale. Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Conor Soper called Palencia’s death “a calculated, rage-filled, unjustified killing.” Soper told jurors the day before the shooting that Piedrahita was “seething with rage” during a post on Facebook Live.
“When the time comes, I will break you in two,” the prosecutor said Piedrahita said during the broadcast. “You messed with the wrong guy.”
Don Pan riders
Palencia was killed on a Wednesday morning in late August 2019 during a ride with a well-known group of cyclists who are often referred to as the Don Pan Riders. They’re called that because they set out on mornings from a Don Pan bakery in South Miami, then ride together north toward the toll to Key Biscayne. Then they cross the Rickenbacker Causeway and head into the village, before turning around and returning to South Miami.
That morning on Palencia’s death, Piedrahita’s son, also named Kadel, wanted to test out new wheels he’d gotten for his bike. So he asked his dad to join him as he rode with the Don Pan group. Riding along on his motorcycle and videotaping or showing the event live was normal for Piedrahita, the father, who was proud of his son and whose attorney claimed was an avid cyclist himself years ago in Cuba.
The older Piedrahita joined the group on his motorcycle while holding a Go Pro camera, just as they got past the toll booth headed toward the Key. Then something went terribly wrong.
Palencia stopped his bike and Piedrahita stopped his motorcycle. Their argument, caught on videotape, escalated until Piedrahita is seen shooting Palencia. Then, still holding the gun, Pieadrahita chases one of Palencia’s friends, but doesn’t shoot him.
When an officer arrived, he said he found Piedrahita sitting on the roadway with Palencia laying still, practically in his lap. Piedrahita said he yelled at his son to call 911. Police initially let the Piedrahitas go. It’s not exactly clear why. They picked up the older Piedrahita at his home the next day and charged him with Palencia’s death.
Simmering argument
The one thing the defense and prosecutors agree on is that some type of simmering argument that originated before the day Palencia was killed was responsible for their feud.
Soper, the prosecutor, said once Palencia noticed Piedrahita following him, the men exchanged words. Then Piedrahita kicked Palencia while he was riding his bike.
“We know exactly why this happened,” Soper said, telling jurors that a day earlier on Facebook Live, Piedrahita was speaking directly to the man he would kill less than 24 hours later, when he said, “I will break you in two. Just touch me ...”
But it wasn’t quite that simple, said defense attorney Zamora. In the days leading up the Palencia’s death, Zamora said the two men had several exchanges. In one, she said, Palencia called the defendant “almost every single Spanish Cuban insult in the dictionary.”
Palencia, she added, made threats toward Piedrahita that gave him little choice but to defend himself.
“He also told him,” Zamora said to jurors, “You don’t know me. I’d be careful when you’re with your son alone.”
This story was originally published September 5, 2024 at 8:14 PM.
