‘Justice for Sofia!’ Family says job not done after boyfriend’s murder arrest

OCALA, Fla. — Family and friends of 17-year-old Sofia Lugo marched down 111 NW Ct. Wednesday evening, raising a banner up high and calling – repeatedly – for justice.

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Lugo was found dead in the home belonging to the family of her boyfriend on Dec. 10, just a few doors down from her family’s own home. The pair had been dating for about a month, with the boyfriend’s name freshly tattooed on Lugo, family members told police.

For 17 days, though, that boyfriend, Saul Garcia Macias, was nowhere to be found. He turned himself in earlier in the day, claiming he had been lost in the woods and blaming a drug dealer for Lugo’s death.

On Wednesday, family and friends held a vigil for Sofia Lugo;

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Vigil for Sofia Lugo Family and friends gathered outside the house where 17-year-old Sofia Lugo was killed, hours after her accused killer, 21-year-old Saul Garcia Macias was arrested on Dec. 27, 2023. (Nick Papantonis)

Lugo’s family didn’t believe his story.

“It brought so much relief to us, to relieve a little bit of that hurt, that pain,” Lugo’s aunt, Andrea Lugo-Aguierre, described.

Emotion was evident during the vigil, as the crowd broke into hymns and songs honoring the girl they knew as their rock.

Read: Boyfriend of teen found shot to death in Ocala home charged with her murder, deputies say

Lugo-Aguierre said she had drawn her niece in the family’s Christmas gift swap and had already bought all her presents, which would never be opened.

She said her niece was constantly telling her cousins to be strong and stand up to bullies in school.

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“She’ll probably be telling us to be strong,” Lugo-Aguierre said. “She wouldn’t want us crying. She wouldn’t want to see us in pain or hurting because she’s in a better place.”

Family members said they would not rest until Garcia Macias is convicted and sentenced. The 21-year-old is facing a second-degree murder charge. Prosecutors are asking for no bond, given his immigration status and his history of fleeing from police.

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