Homestead students confess to hacking boy to death

Four teens hacked a 17-year-old boy and buried him in the woods before having sex by his grave, police said.

Desiray Strickland, 18, became the fourth charged with the savage murder of Jose when she was arrested yesterday.

All five were students at the Homestead Job Corps, a live-in school for at-risk youth that enables them to obtain high school diplomas and learn a trade.

A fifth person is expected to be arrested soon. They proceeded to burn the victims belongings, as well as their own clothes that were stained in blood.

“Steps already have been taken to strengthen security at the Homestead center, and Job Corps is reviewing safety and security at all its centers”, said spokesman Stephen Barr.

Guardado’s body was discovered three days later by his brothers, who saw feet in a burned area and alerted police.

The group considered murdering the teenager a fortnight before actually carrying out the act, and managed to dig a grave and hide the machete in the bush a few days before, police said. According to cops, Strickland also “complained” about missing the initial machete blows on the victim because she left the immediate area briefly to urinate.

Guardado was ordered to lay in the grave, and after making one last attempt to fight off the attackers, Arbelo struck him many more times until his face caved in. They were insane with grief hoping it was not Jose’.

Police believe the group killed Guardado over a debt he owed to his roommate – suspected drug dealer Arbelo.

Police say that after the students buried Guardado that Strickland stayed behind with the supposed ringleader of the group Kaheem Arbelo to have sex near the murder scene before going back to the Homestead Job Corps school campus.

Miami-Dade Corrections Jonathan Lucas (L) and Kaheem Arbelo (R) confessed to slaying Jose Guardado, police said.

All four of the teens were arrested and have confessed to the to the slaughter of Guardado and are pending charges. She shoved and head-butted authorities, tried to pick the lock of her handcuffs with the screws from an electrical outlet, and sketched “MPD go to hell” into a table.

Strickland also was charged with resisting an officer with violence, battery on an officer and criminal mischief.

He was a “peaceful young man and he was fun with his friends”, Morales wrote.

“A crime is bad, but what Jose suffered was awful”, she wrote. Some thought he was “antisocial” but he was shy.

Guardado, the son of immigrants, sold ice cream on the weekends to help make ends meet.