Boca Raton Woman Dies After Beaten, Doused With Chemical By Deliveryman
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A Hialeah man, who is a deliveryman for a major electronics chain, is now charged with attacking a woman and dousing her with a chemical in her Boca Raton home. The woman has died from the injuries she sustained in the attack.
Jorge Luis Dupre Lachazo, 21, is charged with murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon on a person over 65 and arson.
Investigators say he attacked Evelyn Udell, a former Florida Atlantic University employee.
It happened Monday after he and a co-worker delivered a washer and dryer to the woman's home in the Colonnade at Glen Oaks.
While they were installing the appliances, Lachazo was left alone with the woman to give her instructions on how to use the new equipment, which she purchased from Best Buy, while his co-worker went outside to make a phone call.
According to the arrest affidavit, Lachazo hit the elderly woman in the head with a wooden mallet and doused her body with a chemical from her garage.
After hearing screams from the house, the co-worker raced inside and found blood and the woman on the floor. As he called 911, Lachazo got into the delivery truck and drove away.
A Boca Raton police officer saw the truck leaving the neighborhood and stopped it.
The woman was taken to the hospital in critical condition. On Tuesday, police confirmed that she had died.
During an interview, Police say Lachazo admitted to hitting her and dousing her with a liquid chemical. He also says he did cocaine and smoked marijuana earlier in the day.
Police have not said what led to the attack.
Benjamin Jinks, who lives down the street said, "Nothing gets your attention like this so we're going to be even more vigilant."
Another resident said he wants the community to be gated. This way, visitors will know they're being identified and registered once entering the community.
"To have a gated community everybody is registered when they come in so that this individual that performed this deed knows that they're of record so there's no chance of absconding and running away and being successful in it," Richard Ozelie said.
Udell was a mother, grandmother, and beloved member of her community.
Her family issued the following statement Tuesday night.
"Please respect our privacy at this time. We are not ready to speak about this tragedy. We wish to thank the Boca police department for their prompt and professional apprehension of the suspect. And we thank the Delray Medical Center for the excellent care they provided to our mother."
FAU also issued the following statement:
"Evelyn worked at FAU from November 2003 until April 2018 as a cataloger in the technical services department. Evelyn will be remembered as a kind, caring and hard-working member of the staff."
