Jurors on Thursday found a man guilty of murder in the shooting death of a father who was heading to his first day of work in an Orlando road rage shooting on Colonial Drive last year.
Nicholas Carrasquillo was arrested in the Jan. 22, 2024, shooting death of David Alexzander Sligh, 30. Sligh’s family said he had been driving to his first day in a full-time role at his job when he was killed.
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Closing arguments were delivered by prosecutors and his attorneys on Thursday, and the jury found him guilty of second-degree murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle.
After the shooting, Sligh’s vehicle ended up off the road in the 4800 block of E. Colonial Drive and struck a pole near a Best Buy. Sligh was found shot inside and taken to the hospital, where he later died.
According to an affidavit, Carrasquillo returned to the area while police were investigating and was in the parking lot of the Best Buy. A witness, who stayed on scene after calling 911, approached Carrasquillo and asked if he saw anything to which the suspect responded that he was the one who shot the victim, police said.
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Carrasquillo told police that a white vehicle, driven by Sligh, cut in front of him, causing him to brake hard, and he honked his horn and flashed his lights, an affidavit shows.
He said Sligh said something out of his window to Carrasquillo, and Carrasquillo opened his driver’s door to hear what Sligh was saying since his window doesn’t go down, according to police.
Carrasquillo said the two were yelling at each other when the light turned green and the white vehicle did not move, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit said Carrasquillo then reached into his glovebox for his gun, stood partially outside the vehicle and pointed the gun at the white vehicle, the affidavit shows. He shot at the ground next to the car and fired more shots toward the driver, saying he just wanted to “maim” the driver.
Police said six bullet casings were recovered. Nearby surveillance video revealed one shot was fired and a second later, five gunshots rang out in a span of a few seconds, according to police.
Carrasquillo told police he grabbed his gun because he felt trapped but never saw Sligh with a weapon, the affidavit states.
“He acknowledged he could have driven around him but feared he would be followed. When asked if this would have happened if he never flashed his bright lights and honked his horn, he stated the white vehicle probably would have driven off,” the affidavit reads.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.