MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — A 26-year-old man faces attempted murder charges following a violent, unprovoked attack on a woman at a Martin County beach Thursday night.
Said Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, is accused of attempting to drown a woman at Tiger Shore Beach.
The victim was walking alone and talking on her phone when Gonzalez approached from behind, struck her, pushed her into the ocean, and held her underwater until she lost consciousness. Believing she was dead, he took her phone, threw it into the water, and fled.
The woman regained consciousness and walked over a mile to Stuart Beach to find a deputy. The Martin County Sheriff’s Office investigated for two days, reviewing footage and canvassing the area.
Gonzalez was identified after Port St. Lucie police responded to a separate suicidal male call, where he confessed to murdering a woman on a Martin County beach.
During his interview with detectives, he reportedly admitted to targeting the woman because she was alone. Gonzalez described his motivation for the violence to investigators. “She made me angry, so I attacked her and drowned her,” Gonzalez said.
He is held in Martin County Jail without bond, with an ICE detainer as an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela.
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