Son killed father ‘over car keys,’ Florida cops say. Body found after missing 5 days

A teen who led deputies on a chase before crashing his car and getting shot is now accused of killing his father, apparently “over car keys,” a sheriff in Florida said.

Johnny Santiago, 18, is accused of killing his father and hiding his body in some bushes near Lake Avalon, about 20 miles west of Orlando, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said in a news conference on Thursday, July 14.

His father, Juan Santiago, had been missing since July 10, when a call with his wife was abruptly disconnected, according to a post on the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.

The woman called police late on July 10 and told them that she heard her husband and their son fighting in the background. She told deputies that she heard a loud noise before the call disconnected.

Juan Santiago was visiting their son in Deltona, about 30 miles north of Orlando, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies went to the Deltona house to investigate but found no one home.

The son’s vehicle was later seen in nearby DeBary, but when deputies pursued, the driver fled, according to investigators. Law enforcement officers in Sanford, about 10 miles south of Deltona, also reported seeing the vehicle but said the driver fled from them when they tried to follow.

Authorities issued a “be on the lookout” alert for the vehicle, according to the sheriff’s office.

Just before 5 p.m. on Monday, July 11, detectives saw the vehicle in Lake County and started to follow it before it sped away and crashed into a synagogue in Mount Dora, about 40 miles west of Deltona.

The driver, who was identified as Johnny Santiago, started shooting at deputies and was injured when they returned fire, the sheriff’s office said.

First responders took Johnny Santiago to a hospital for treatment of multiple gunshot wounds.

On July 14, Johnny Santiago’s sister discovered her father’s body while searching around Lake Avalon, Chitwood said during the news conference. The Santiago family used an app that was tracking the location of Johnny Santiago’s vehicle to see that he had parked it near the lake around 1 a.m. on July 11.

Detectives also found Juan Santiago’s blood in the driveway of the house and in the back of his son’s pickup truck.

An autopsy has not yet been conducted, Chitwood said.

Chitwood said deputies had enough to charge the younger Santiago with his father’s murder even before finding the body.

Brian Pakett, an attorney representing the Santiago family, told McClatchy News that the family was “devastated.”

“It’s obviously a tragic situation all around,” he said. “Everybody in the family is grieving.”

The younger Santiago is accused of killing his father “over car keys,” Chitwood said.He had crashed his vehicle and fled from police earlier in July.

Santiago also faces charges for shooting at deputies in Mount Dora, Chitwood said.

He could spend “decades in prison,” for those charges alone, he said.

This story was originally published July 14, 2022 at 7:51 PM with the headline "Son killed father ‘over car keys,’ Florida cops say. Body found after missing 5 days."