Man charged with robbing, killing 50-year-old
Armando Robles Carlos’ body was found in vacant lot.
Months a f t e r deputi e s found 50-year-old Armando Ro b l e s C a r l o s d e a d i n a vacant Lake Worth lot, officials arrested the man they believe helped kill him.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff ’s Office says Jose Luis Cosme-Sella was one of three people with Robles Carlos minutes before he was robbed and killed in early April.
Cosme-Sella faces first-degree murder and armed robbery charges, according to jail records. Judge Caroline Shepherd ordered that he remain in jail without bail. Robles Carlos’ death marks the ninth homicide in Lake Worth t hi s year, a c c ording to a Palm Beach Post database.
Deputies found Robles Carlos’s body face up in a vacant lot on South H Street, just west of U.S. 1, days after i nve s t i g a t or s s ay he was killed. His cellphone was found nearby and his right rear pocket was almost completely ripped off, according to a sheriff ’s office report.
Pieces of long dark-col- ored hair were in his right hand, deputies said.
That hair, according to i n v e s t i g a t o r s , ma t c h e d Cosme-Sella’s DNA.
When police brought the 25-year-old in for questioning last month, Cosme-Sella initially denied knowing anything about Robles Carlos’ death.
Surveillance footage from t he l at e hours of Apri l 2 jogged Cosme-Sella’s memory and he told investigators that he and another man took the keys to Robles Carlos’ scooter that was parked a short walk away from where his body was found.
C o s me- S e l l a t he n t o l d investigators how he and another man met with Robles Carlos and a woman in an alleyway that night. There was an argument between the other man and Robles Carlos, Cosme-Sella said, and he stepped bet ween them to break it up.
The other man pushed Robles Carlos to the ground and took his wallet and some c a s h , C o s me - S e l l a s a i d . Robles Carlos was begging for help when the three left.
The medical examiner concluded Robles Carlos died due to injuries sustained by an electrical weapon. Surveillance footage shows what appears to be a stun gun in one of the men’s waistbands, according to the sheriff ’s office report.
Court records do not indicate whether anyone else has been charged in connection with Robles Carlos’ death.