TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/CNN) – A grand jury has indicted a man for first-degree murder in the death of Jorge Diaz Johnston, an LGBTQ advocate and the brother of a former Miami mayor Manny Diaz.
Diaz Johnston’s body was discovered in a Jackson County landfill in January, several days after he was last seen. Police believe Diaz Johnston was strangled and then his body was wrapped in bed linens and dumped in the trash at his home, according to a warrant.
(Source: Tallahassee Police Department)
Steven R. Yinger, 37, was indicted last week by a Leon County grand jury on charges of first-degree murder, tampering with evidence, grand theft motor vehicle, grand theft, and criminal use of a personal identification number.
The indictment alleges Yinger strangled Diaz Johnston between January 3 and 5. His body was found the morning of January 8th.
Yinger is being held at the Leon County detention center.
Diaz Johnston’s husband, Don Diaz Johnston, reported him missing. Don Diaz Johnston told police Yinger was Jorge Diaz Johnston’s roommate and Diaz Johnston had been planning to ask Yinger to move out because they hadn’t been getting along.
“I am so angry. After all those years of trying to get my husband back, to have him ripped from me for such an utterly senseless reason,” Don Diaz Johnston in an interview last week.
He said his late husband knew Yinger from an alcohol recovery program and took him in while he and Jorge were separated.
“Jorge didn’t charge him rent, never had expectations, until he could get a job and support himself, and that’s who Jorge was,” said Don Diaz Johnston.
Jorge and Don Diaz Johnston were one of six couples who filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade County in 2014 challenging Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage. A Miami-Dade circuit judge ruled in the couples’ favor in 2015.
In January, the victim’s brother, Manny Diaz — chair of the Florida Democratic Party and the mayor of Miami from 2001 to 2009 — released a statement thanking police and city officials who worked to locate his sibling and investigate the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
“I am profoundly appreciative of the outpouring of support shown to me, my brother-in-law Don, and my family after the loss of my brother, Jorge Diaz Johnston. My brother was such a special gift to this world whose heart and legacy will continue to live on for generations to come,” the statement said.
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