East Naples Man charged in murder of 18-year-old girlfriend

Reporter Carl Fortier
COLLIER COUNTY, Fla.

An East Naples man is accused of killing his 18-year-old girlfriend, Sept. 14, inside his apartment. Collier County deputies arrested Santiago Burbano, 20, for the murder of Rubi Velasco.

According to  Burbano’s arrest report, his mother called 911 after finding her son in his bedroom at the Tuscan Isle Apartments on Weir Drive. She told deputies that Burbano was pointing a gun at his head, and that the body of Velasco was lying on the bed with a deep cut to her neck.

Burbano’s mother told deputies her son said, “Mommy, mommy, I killed Rubi,” and that he’d rather die than go to jail. He was eventually convinced to put the gun down, before deputies moved in and put him in handcuffs.

Linda Oberhaus, director of the Shelter for Abused Women and Children in Naples, said there were almost 1,800 calls for domestic violence in Collier County in 2017. She said that a growing number of the victims are teens.

“We’re seeing an increase in teen dating violence,” Oberhaus said. “So we have a lot of prevention programs in the schools to really reach out to these kids… to get age-appropriate messages to children who may not know what a healthy relationship is.”

She said anyone involved in an abusive relationship is urged to call the Florida Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-500-1119.

Burbano is charged with second-degree murder. Friday he went before a judge, who set his bond at $500,000. Burbano is also required to surrender his passport and any firearms.