The man suspected of providing pregnant reality star Lyric McHenry with a fatal dose of heroin and cocaine before helping dump her body on a sidewalk, has fled New York for Florida, DailyMailTV can exclusively disclose.
The man, who appeared in security footage released by cops two weeks after McHenry was found dead on August 14, was traced to a Sunshine State apartment complex but ran before he could be arrested, her father Doug, 66, said.
The night before she died, Lyric celebrated her birthday at a Manhattan club with her friends and her younger sister Maya but left with three men later the same night.
The director and producer also revealed the suspects could face second-degree murder charges over the death of McHenry, who overdosed on a lethal mix of cocaine and heroin and then was dumped in the Bronx.
‘They believe there were three males in the car with Lyric,’ the grieving father told DailyMailTV.
‘They identified the guy on the videotape, and discovered that he had fled to Florida. They made arrangements to arrest him down there and bring him back to New York.’
The man suspected of leaving pregnant Lyric McHenry (pictured) to die on a sidewalk was traced to a Florida apartment complex but he fled before he could be arrested
The man, who appeared in security footage (pictured left and right) released by cops two weeks after McHenry was found dead on August 14, was traced to a Sunshine State apartment complex but ran before he could be arrested, her father Doug, 66, said
Alexis Mejia-Ramirez, 29, was taken into custody last week. Pictured: Mejia-Ramirez is seen giggling as her leaves court with a female friend in the Bronx on Wednesday
Doug continued: ‘But by the time they showed up to his residence, they found that he had been evicted several days earlier, because he had been writing bouncing checks to maintain his lifestyle down there.
‘They didn’t know where he was so they couldn’t put their hands on him. They’re continuing to search for him.’
The man in the footage is understood to have provided McHenry, who is thought to have been around five months pregnant, with the heroin-laced cocaine that killed her.
Doug said: ‘These guys were so scared and disinterested in the welfare of my daughter, they decided the best thing to do would be to drive all the way to another borough and dump her on a desolate sidewalk’
But he is not thought to be the mystery man she was dating at the time of her death, with former roommate Rob Franklin – who had met him – telling cops he does not recognize him.
One man has already been arrested in connection with McHenry’s death: Alexis Mejia-Ramirez, 29, who was taken into custody last week and charged with concealing a human corpse and tampering with evidence, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by DailyMail.com.
A source close to the investigation said a third man is also being sought. The NYPD have so far refused to name the two men who are still on the run.
Doug said: ‘They may well, as the investigation continues, add additional charges. This is certainly a case that may involve what they call ”depraved indifference”, which is second degree murder.
‘It’s an unintentional killing, but as a result of your depraved indifference. In other words, you were the last person in the last position to do something reasonable to save someone’s life, and you chose not to.
‘These guys were so scared and disinterested in the welfare of my daughter, they decided the best thing to do would be to drive all the way to another borough and dump her on a desolate sidewalk. That is a crime.’
The 29-year-old was charged with concealing a human corpse and tampering with evidence, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by DailyMail.com
McHenry had spent the previous evening celebrating her birthday with her friends and younger sister Maya but left with three men later the same night. Pictured: Map of Lyric’s whereabouts the night before she was found dead
He added: ‘All they had to was drive her to an emergency room and just leave her there, and not be involved if they didn’t want to be identified.
‘She might have been revived. But instead they decided they had to get rid of her, because they didn’t want to be connected to it. They drove all the way from Manhattan and dropped her off in the Bronx on the sidewalk.
‘Then she lay there for three hours before she was discovered by the police. They brought her to the hospital, they thought there was a chance to revive her. They used Narcan, but it’s ineffective for oxygen deprivation.’
McHenry, who found fame on E! reality show EJNYC in which she starred alongside Magic Johnson’s son EJ, had spent the previous evening celebrating her birthday at an upscale club in Manhattan with her friends and younger sister Maya but left with three men later the same night.
Bronx-based Mejia-Ramirez, one of the three allegedly in the car, was charged on October 15 by Detective Andre Smith.
He is thought to have collected McHenry from the Dream Downtown nightclub, along with two friends – both of whom are now on the run.
DailyMail.com can also disclose that the 26-year-old came within inches of avoiding the fateful car ride and was captured on security footage with ‘disgust’ on her face as she spied the three men.
Doug said: ‘This is certainly a case that may involve what they call ”depraved indifference”, which is second degree murder. It’s an unintentional killing, but as a result of your depraved indifference.’ Pictured: Lyric (right), Lyric’s younger sister Maya (left) and Doug
McHenry found fame on E! reality show EJNYC in which she starred alongside Magic Johnson’s son EJ (pictured together)
‘There were three people in that car. They have footage outside the front of the hotel, of Lyric going to the car,’ a source close to the investigation said.
‘She looks into the car, into the back seat, because she was getting ready to get in. And then she turns away. You could see the disgust on her face.
‘But then a couple seconds later she turns around, walks back to the car, gets in the back seat and it drives away.
‘She thought first about not getting in that car. If she’d kept walking, she may be alive today.’
The car is understood to be a white BMW but the NYPD refused to confirm that description when approached by DailyMail.com.
According to Mejia-Ramirez’s arrest warrant, cops used ‘video surveillance from different locations, review of phone records, and interviews with witnesses known to the Police Department’.
The charges say the 29-year-old was ‘acting in concert with two other male individuals’, hiding her body by dumping it on a sidewalk in the Bronx.
But Mejia-Ramirez’s arrest came as a surprise to those who know him, with Renner Villamar, the owner of the shabby Bronx apartment block where he lived until a year ago, describing the suspect as ‘nice’ and ‘hard working’.
Villamar, 48, said Mejia-Ramirez had been the ideal tenant and had shared the apartment with his now ex-wife Luisamna Vasquez, 24.
The landlord told DailyMail.com: ‘I had no idea he’s in jail. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would be involved in that.
‘For as long as I knew him, he was a nice man who was always very welcome. He was a hard-working guy. He was working at a grocery store, a supermarket or something like that…
‘He got divorced from his wife about a year ago and after that he moved out.’
McHenry is understood to have been in a casual relationship with a man from the Bronx at the time of her death, although he is not thought to be either Mejia-Ramirez or the man captured in the security footage.
Her former housemate, Rob Franklin, is the only friend to have met the man – described to DailyMail.com by other pals as ‘a drug dealer’.
Franklin is understood to have told cops that the man pictured in security footage is not the boyfriend he met.
Another friend told DailyMail.com: ‘She had been seeing someone who lived in the Bronx. But I don’t think it was a serious relationship by any means.
‘I don’t know if he was her regular dealer or what the deal is. Because nobody knows much about him other than the fact she had slept with him a few times.’