The family of 19-year-old Miya Marcano is suing the Orange County, Florida, Sheriff's Office and two of its members, claiming civil rights violations in the way they handled the investigation into Marcano’s death. The family filed their lawsuit in the Orange County Ninth Judicial Circuit Court two years after Marcano’s death.

On September 24, 2021, police determined that Marcano, a student at Valencia College, was kidnapped after her mother called law enforcement to do a welfare check of her home in Arden Villas in Orlando.

The investigation would eventually lead authorities to her killer, Armando Manuel Caballero. Caballero was a maintenance worker at the apartment complex where Marcano lived, and he used his master key to enter Marcano’s unit to kidnap and eventually kill her. Marcano’s body was found a week later on October 2, 2021, in a nearby wooded area. Her killer took his own life days before; his body was discovered on September 27, 2021.

In the newly filed lawsuit, the family says the sheriff’s office had enough evidence that could have saved Marcano’s life or led to the discovery of her body sooner. The lawsuit points out two deputies, Deputy Samir Paulino and Deputy Kenneth Dale, for failing to perform their duties during the early moments of Marcano’s disappearance.

Deputy Paulino was the first officer to arrive at the apartment and conduct the welfare check. The family accuses Paulino of not doing enough to treat the apartment as a “crime scene” even though there were “obvious warning signs” that a crime had taken place. Among those signs were a blood stain on one of Marcano’s pillows, broken jewelry scattered on the floor, a bookshelf that was propped to keep the door from being opened, and a box cutter on the floor.

The lawsuit explains that “Deputy Paulino did not inform anyone about the evidence of a potential crime he observed inside of Miya’s apartment.”

The family says that if the deputy had taken appropriate action sooner, the investigation “could have led to the discovery of Miya much sooner.”

The lack of care to investigate properly continued on the day after the welfare check, when an apartment security guard, Jacolby Coleman, allegedly offered Deputy Paulion fingerprints from the crime scene. However, the deputy “blew off” the security guard's efforts to convince the deputy of the seriousness of the crime.

The lawsuit explains that “Coleman advised Deputy Paulino that he had lifted fingerprints from the scene using tape and attempted to provide the evidence to Paulino but Deputy Paulino, with a smirk on his face, told Mr. Coleman to keep the evidence in case it would be needed later.”

In addition to ignoring critical evidence, the lawsuit accuses Paulino and his supervisor, Cpl. Kenneth Dale, of not taking the case seriously. The lawsuit argues that neither exchanged “extremely critical information” with one another about Caballero who had a “heated exchange” with family members at the crime scene.

The complaint goes on to accuse the sheriff's office of having a “policy, practice, or custom” of providing less protection to female victims who go missing than to victims of other assaults.

Michael B. Feiler, one of the attorneys representing the family, called the details of the case “shocking.” Feiler explained, “There were so many opportunities to prevent this tragedy with even the slightest bit of care or competence on the part of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.” Feiler adds, “While we cannot bring Miya back, we can only hope to bring justice to her family and protect other vulnerable victims like her in the future.”

This new lawsuit comes on the heels of a recently settled wrongful death lawsuit that the family filed against the apartment complex and its management partner, the Preiss Company. Details of the settlement have not been revealed.

The police response to Marcano’s death fueled the family’s effort to create lasting change in honor of their daughter. They did this through the recently enacted Florida Statutes Section 83.515, also known as “Miya’s Law.” This law adds additional protections for tenants in the state of Florida. Under the law, landlords of public lodging establishments or non-transient or transient apartments are required to conduct thorough background checks on apartment complex employees. Individuals who have been found guilty, convicted, or entered a plea of guilty to a criminal act that disregards an individual's safety could be disqualified by a landlord for employment. The law went into effect January 1, 2023.