A Florida man who was arrested for fatally stabbing his aunt and knifing his father 23 times in front of a young relative before breaking into his estranged wife’s house was found hanging in his jail cell on Sunday.
Pedro Vega Jr, 46, was arrested on Wednesday in connection to the stabbing death of 59-year-old Rosa Iris Vega in a home near Davenport. Vega Jr was also accused of stabbing his father 70-year-old Pedro Vega Sr.
Polk County authorities said a detention deputy last saw Vega Jr alive on Sunday around 5.57pm, according to WFTV.
But when they checked on him at 6.09pm, he was slouched against a wall of the cell with a sheet around his neck. Deputies said he was declared dead at Florida Hospital in Sebring.
Pedro Vega Jr (left), 46, who was arrested for fatally stabbing his aunt, Rosa Iris Vega (right), was found hanging in his jail cell on Sunday
Vega Jr is also suspected of knifing his 70-year-old father, Pedro Vega Sr (pictured), 23 times, and stealing his white pickup truck. On Wednesday, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper found Vega Jr in a truck on the side of a road
While searching his cell, officials found two plastic spoons with sharpened ends which were used to cut the bed sheet, as well as a noose in a pillowcase.
‘Pedro Vega had a history of escape and escape attempts. In fact he tried to escape custody when he was in the hospital last week,’ Polk County Sheriff’s Grady Judd said.
Deputies said Vega Jr had been checked on every 15 minutes as per agency policy, as well as state and national standards.
Last week, Judd said a Florida Highway Patrol trooper found Vega Jr in a truck on the side of a road shortly before 9am on Wednesday.
Fugitive: Vega (left) had been in hiding at his aunt’s house and was seen with Rosa Vega (right) in Winter Haven, Florida, three weeks ago
Authorities said Vega Sr’s (pictured) hands, feet and face were bound with tape. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition but is expected to survive, despite being stabbed nearly two dozen times
Vega Jr, who was bleeding profusely, was sitting in a 1999 white Dodge pickup truck, which he had allegedly stolen from his father, eight hours after the twin knife attacks occurred.
His aunt, Rosa, succumbed to her injuries at the scene, near a four-year-old girl she was watching. The girl was found drenched in blood but was not injured.
Authorities said Vega Sr’s hands, feet and face were bound with tape. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition but is expected to survive, despite being stabbed nearly two dozen times.
Rosa Vega’s house is next door to the home of Pedro Vega Jr’s estranged wife in the 1600 block of Davenport Boulevard.
Judd said last week that someone in the wife’s home fired shots at Vega Jr, injuring him in the shoulder, and possibly also in the stomach, which allowed officers to follow a trail of blood that led them to the scene of Rosa Vega’s fatal stabbing.
At the time Vega Jr was taken to a hospital to be treated for his injuries, where he attempted to escape.
He had an extensive criminal record spanning 30 years, including a 1986 arrest for rape in New York, Judd said. He also had served 13 years in prison for sexual battery in Florida.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said last week that Vega Jr was ‘evil in the flesh’
End of the road: Eight hours after the twin knife attacks outside Davenport, Florida, a highway patrol trooper found Vega Jr sitting in his father’s 1999 white Dodge pickup truck
Life of crime: Vega Jr (pictured in older mugshots) had a long criminal record spanning 30 years, including a 1986 arrest for rape in New York. He had served 13 years in prison for sexual battery in Florida
In 2001, he escaped from a county jail but was recaptured.
‘He’s evil in the flesh,’ Judd told reporters last week, later adding that if he survived his injuries, he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
The sheriff said Vega Jr had an outstanding warrant for his arrest on a charge of aggravated battery for allegedly beating and stabbing his 46-year-old ex-wife in May.
According to Judd, Vega Jr had been in hiding at his aunt’s house and was seen with Rosa Vega in Winter Haven three weeks ago.
‘The person who loved him and protected him the most was his aunt,’ Judd said.
Officials have opened an investigation into Vega Jr’s death.