Rafael Andres appears in court for his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Courtroom 4-5 with Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Zachary James presiding at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building in Miami. A jury voted to send Andres to Florida’s Death Row for the 2005 murder of La Carreta waitress Yvette Fariñas, although the judge will have the final say.
Photo by Matias J. Ocner
mocner@miamiherald.com
Loved ones of two women killed decades apart by the same man gave emotional accounts in court on Tuesday as the killer’s attorneys fought to keep him off Death Row.
Lisbet Fariñas testified during the Spencer hearing of Rafael Andres, 61, who in 2005 beat, stabbed and strangled her sister, Yvette Fariñas. Andres’ attorneys had presented final arguments and evidence in the hopes of sparing Andres from execution.
Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Zachary James presides as Rafael Andres appears in court for his Spencer hearing on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. James will decide whether to uphold a jury’s vote to send Andres to Florida’s Death Row for the 2005 murder of La Carreta waitress Yvette Fariñas. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
In November, a jury recommended in a 9-3 vote that Andres be executed . But Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Zachary James has the final say — and will formally sentence Andres to the death penalty or life in prison. In Florida, judges can override a jury’s recommendation if jurors say the defendant should be sent to Death Row.
READ MORE: Killer who stabbed, strangled La Carreta waitress should get death, jury says
Monday, Lisbet said, was Yvette’s birthday.
“Nobody understands what it’s like to be in the place of a person who lost a daughter and a sister,” Lisbet said. “I have to continue with my life, but I don’t understand why this happened to me and my family.”
File art: Prosecutor Deisy Hernandez holds a photograph of Yvette Fariñas, murdered by Rafael Andres in 2005. Emily Michot Miami Herald Staff
Yvette Fariñas was not Andres’ first victim.
Appearing via Zoom, Rene Azcarreta said he remembers when he, at 7 years old, found his mother, Linda Azcarreta, 32, stabbed to death on the couch inside her home. Earlier that day, Rene had a bad feeling, so he kissed his mother goodbye, told her to not stay home and went off to school.
“That image never leaves you,” Rene said. “It becomes part of who you are, whether you want it to or not. Rafael Andres took my mother… from this world — and from me — in the most violent and senseless way imaginable.”
Prosecutor, Gail Levine, holds up a photo of murder victim Linda Azcarreta, 32, stabbed to death by Rafael Andres (pictured in the background) in 1987. Andres later went on to murder Yvette Fariñas in 2005. Emily Michot Miami Herald Staff
Andres murdered Linda on March 9, 1987, and was convicted a year later, claiming he killed Linda, a friend of his wife, in a frenzy of drug use. He was sentenced to nine years but walked free after just 18 months due to his good behavior while behind bars.
The killer, Rene said, left his grandparents mourning the loss of their own daughter while “trying to hold together a grandson who was trying to make sense of a world without his mother.”
Rene Azcarreta attends the Spencer hearing of Rafael Andres, who killed Rene’s mother Linda Azcarreta in 1987. Andres could be sent to Florida’s Death Row for the 2005 murder of La Carreta waitress Yvette Fariñas. Zoom
And when he was given a second chance, he used it to “deliberately, repeatedly, violently” tear another family apart, Rene said.
“The same hands, the same violence. A different family destroyed,” he said. “That is not a mistake. That is who he is.”
Final pleas for mercy
After the victims’ loved ones spoke, Andres addressed the judge in a long-winded statement. Shackled and wearing red jail attire, he said he never claimed to be an angel but has since dedicated his life to Jesus Christ.
“My actions speak louder than any words,” Andres said.
Rafael Andres appears in court for his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, April 7, 2026 in Courtroom 4-5 with Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Zachary James presiding at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building in Miami, Florida. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
Andres didn’t mention his victims or the impact their murders had on their families. Instead, he said executing him will not bring them back — and that he would dedicate his prison stay, whether on Death Row or in general population, to preaching religion and mentoring fellow inmates.
“Anytime you hear my name, it’s going to be because I did something good,” Andres said. “I’m going to keep defending my faith.”
Some of Andres’ family members took the stand. Patricia Andres, Andres’ 25-year-old daughter, said she keeps in touch with her father — and seeks advice about what is going on in her personal life — through phone calls, video visits and countless letters. Andres put his head down and wiped his face with his hands.
Rafael Andres reacts while appearing in court on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
“I just see the amount of love that he has,” Patricia said, breaking down on the stand. “He’s just my father. I need him. I will always need him.”
Esther Almora, the mother of Andres’ children, said she and her family still rely on Andres for his advice and wisdom.
“We really need him in our lives,” Almora said. “We will keep loving him and nothing will change that.”
READ MORE: Hoping to spare his life, fellow inmates testify for killer of La Carreta waitress
On Monday, two Death Row inmates testified on Andres’ behalf, including Chadwick Willacy, who is scheduled to be executed on April 21 for beating his neighbor with a hammer and setting her on fire in 1990 in Palm Bay, Florida. They described Andres as a peacemaker for both inmates and guards, breaking up fights on the prison yard.
A brutal slaying
Andres brutally murdered Yvette Fariñas, a 31-year-old server at La Carreta’s Miami International Airport location, at her home on Jan. 24, 2005. Andres, a handyman, had been hired to do renovations at the efficiency she lived in with her boyfriend.
The handyman used a spare key to enter the efficiency and beat her in the face until she gave up her ATM card’s pin code, prosecutors say. Andres held her wrists and stabbed her three times in the chest — but Fariñas didn’t die.
He then put a dish towel over her face and strangled her with a cord, according to prosecutors. He attempted to light a fire to burn down the evidence — but his plan was foiled by a neighbor who had spotted Andres leaving the scene.
The judge will formally sentence Andres at a hearing on a later date. Prosecutors and defense attorneys will file written arguments in May.
Rafael Andres appears in court for his Spencer hearing on Tuesday, April 7, 2026 in Courtroom 4-5 with Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Zachary James presiding. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
Miami Herald
Grethel covers courts and the criminal justice system for the Miami Herald. She graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), speaks Spanish and Arabic and loves animals, traveling, basketball and good storytelling. Grethel also attends law school part time.