Questions Remain In Apparent Suicide Of Miami Man
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Questions remain surrounding the death of a man found in the back of a home that went up in flames on Friday.
A good family friend said Juan Meralla was aging, on disability and in very poor health before his death. Police are investigating his death as an apparent suicide.
According to Miami-Dade Police, just before 8 AM, a person called 911 saying Juan Meralla had dropped her off at her job at the DoubleTree by Hilton Miami Airport & Convention Center and told her he was going to go home and shoot himself. Neighbors then reported seeing flames and hearing gunfire at the home located at 2477 NW 42nd Street.
When officers arrived, they heard a gunshot and saw smoke coming from the home.
Police said Meralla had barricaded himself inside the burning home, threatening to shoot himself. A Special Response Team was summoned to respond.
Neighbors were evacuated from their homes before SWAT moved in.
"Somebody had a gun and they were shooting. Then we saw fire," said Cristobal Vidal, a neighbor.
When police searched the outside of the home, they found Meralla in the back of the house and were able to remove him from the home.
He was pronounced dead on the scene of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue put out the fire and did not find anyone else inside the home.
His family friend was at a loss for words and was trying to figure out why he burned the house down.
