Maya Marcano was 19 when she was allegedly killed by Armando Manuel Caballero, a maintenance worker at an apartment complex in Orlando where Marcano lived and Caballero worked.  According to authorities, “[w]e now know that a maintenance-issued master key fob, which Caballero was known to be in possession of, was used to enter Miya’s apartment [around the time of her disappearance] in September 2021.”  John Mina, the Orange County Sheriff, said investigators “believe pretty conclusively that Armando Caballero is responsible” for Marcano’s death. Marcano went missing on Sept. 24, 2021 and Caballero apparently killed himself on Sept. 27, after authorities started looking for him.

Sen. Linda Stewart (D-Orlando) and Rep. Robin Bartleman (D-Weston) introduced “Miya’s Law,” two bills that “would improve tenant safety in apartment buildings” by requiring background checks of certain employees in apartment buildings.  In a Nov. 12, 2021, press release by the sponsors, “despite having a criminal record, was able to attain a master key to gain access to the apartment, where he waited for her to come home.”

Marcano lived in the Arden Villas Luxury Apartments in Orlando.  She went missing September 24, and her body was found October 2 in a wooded area near an apartment complex where Caballero once lived. Marcano’s hands and feet were bound and her mouth covered in tape, officials said.

The Miya Marcano Foundation is right when it says that a law requiring background checks for certain vulnerable situations, like maintenance workers at apartment buildings,

will increase the safety and protection of our most vulnerable population, to include students, children, single mothers, senior citizens, tenant-victims, and over 2.8 million Florida residents residing in single- or multi-unit residential properties. Residential security and personal safety are undoubtedly among the very first lines of defense in the protection of tenants residing in residential communities, and a solid baseline must be established and upheld to safeguard tenants. Safety and security are basic human rights (rights to life) and should be regarded as such.

Source: Rebekah Riess, Gregory Lemos, Miya Marcano’s family files wrongful death lawsuit against her apartment complex, CNN, Oct. 20, 2021.