Man sentenced to life after killing Miami woman, setting home on fire

MIAMI — A 44-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after fatally shooting his partner and then setting her home on fire back in August of 2024, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office confirmed.

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Court records show Marcus Sanchez, of Medley, was convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree arson and tampering with evidence.

According to an arrest report from the Miami Police Department, firefighters responded to a blaze on the morning of Aug. 18, 2024, at a home in the 3000 block of Southwest 13th Street.

Local 10 News learned the home was used as a multi-unit short term rental property, and police confirmed that the fire occurred in the rear unit.

According to the arrest report, while working to extinguish the flames, firefighters discovered a burned body on the floor of the unit.

While securing the scene, a dispatcher advised that a man, later identified as Sanchez, had driven himself to Coral Gables Hospital, seeking medical treatment for severe burns all over his body.

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Police said Sanchez was then transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center due to the severity of his injuries.

According to the arrest report, a detective spoke with Sanchez as he was being transferred to the trauma center, but Sanchez’s statement to the detective was redacted from the publicly released report. Investigators said Sanchez killed the victim, a woman he had been in a relationship with for years, and set the home on fire to cover up the crime.

Police said the fire marshal investigating the cause of the blaze deployed an “arson dog” named Rex, which identified accelerant on Sanchez’s shoes.

Surveillance video from a Chevron gas station also showed Sanchez purchasing a red five-gallon fuel can and then filling it up at a pump, authorities said.

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