Maira Santiesteban, the mother of the man accused of abducting, sexually assaulting and shooting a 12-year-old boy in Miami, still cannot believe the alleged crimes her son committed.
In an interview from Cuba, Santiesteban was fighting tears, trying to find an explanation for the events that transpired and asked for forgiveness from the young boy's family. Officers arrested 43-year-old Aliex Santiesteban in early morning on March 27th and charged him with several counts, including sexual battery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and attempted murder. He was booked into the Miami-Dade jail and was being held without bond, records showed.
Mother of Suspect in Boy's Assault Speaks
Univision:
"As a mother, as a grandmother, I feel deeply sorry for what the young boy is going through, because it didn't need to happen."
Police say DNA evidence and "good old-fashioned police work" led them to Santiesteban.
In the interview, Santiesteban told NBC 6 she spoke with her son the day he was arrested and she did not notice anything strange.
"Something big must have happened to him because... I still don't understand," she said. "I don't understand."
Miami-Dade Police continue to ask the community to take a close look at the suspect and urge anyone to contact them if they have been victimized by Aliex Santiesteban.
Mother of Man Arrested in Abduction, Sex Assault and Shooting of Miami-Dade Boy Speaks
- He lives in a third-floor apartment in the Island Living complex in Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida. (a) (b)
- He is originally from Cuba. (c)
- He is the son of Maira Santiesteban, who lives in Cuba. (d)
- He was married to Judith Pena, who lives in Cuba. (c)
- He and Pena have one daughter. She has an older daughter from a previous relationship. (c)
- He is accused of molesting Pena’s older daughter in Cuba in 2013. (c)
- From Cuba, he moved to the U.S. in 2020. (c)
- He is accused of shooting a boy, then 12, in the face after kidnapping him at gunpoint, sexually assaulting him inside his black four-door sedan and pushing him out of the car in Brownsville, Miami on the early morning of March 27, 2021. Around an hour after the alleged attack, he went to Miami Beach and claimed three men had robbed him, attacked him and injured his hand. (a) (c)
- He was Yordana Aguilar‘s boyfriend. According to her, he had violent tendencies. She once filed a restraining order against him but he managed to convince her to drop it. (e)
- He was with Aguilar when Miami-Dade Police Department officers arrested him at his apartment in Miami on the evening of March 29, 2021. Earlier that day, he spoke with his mother, who did not notice anything stranger. (d) (e)
- He was 43 years old when he was arrested on March 29, 2021. Aguilar broke up with him after the arrest. (e)
- On the early morning of March 30, 2021, he was booked into the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department in Miami. Held without bond, he was charged with sexual battery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping a child under 13 and attempted murder. (b) (e)
- After his arrest on March 29, 2021, he initially denied attacking the boy in his car in Miami on March 27, 2021. He later claimed that the boy had tried to carjack him. On March 30, 2021, he appeared in court before Judge Judith K. Rubenstein who said he “poses a great danger to children in our community.” (a)
SOURCES:
Aliex Santiesteban biography: 13 things about Cuban man from Miami, Florida
‘He was screaming, “Help, someone, help me, please.” So I (brought) him to the store where they could call the police,’ the man told television stations.
Investigators said boy had placed pillows in his bed to trick his parents into thinking he was sleeping before leaving the house on Friday night. He said he walked to a friend’s house about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away.
He was on his way home when he was forced into a car, police said. The boy told investigators he tried to get out, but the car’s child locks were engaged.
Man, 43, is arrested after he abducted, sexually assaulted and shot 12-year-old boy before dumping him on a street in Miami
*Sick. Sick. Sick! Omg, this is a horrible thing to happen to a 12 year old boy. To anyone. But especially a young preteen in the thresholds of puberty. What will this do to his psyche? He is now emotionally, mentally and physically scarred forever. I really feel for both mothers. Alleged perp’s mom will also now be permanently shamed and forced to become defensive of her role as a mother.
. Makes me sick!!
