A New York man with South Florida ties, accused of fatally stabbing his mother at a high-rise apartment building in Brickell, appeared before a judge on Saturday.
Stefano Cremas-Cocicero, 36, was charged with second-degree murder with a weapon.
During his court appearance, a judge denied Cremas-Cocicero’s bond.
He also has a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold.
The case
Miami Police said officers on Friday responded to the Solitair Brickell, advertised as a 50-floor luxury apartment building, on Southwest 8th Street at 4:45 a.m. after receiving a call about a woman who appeared to have been stabbed inside an apartment.
The woman appeared to have been stabbed multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
During their investigation, detectives took Cremas-Cocicero and a witness to the homicide office, an arrest report said.
Cremas-Cocicero, the report said, told detectives “I was defending myself.”
Detectives learned that Cremas-Cocicero and his wife have been listed on the lease agreement since July 2024, and he lives in Miami with an investor visa, the report said.
When detectives interviewed a witness, the report said, she said she was delivering food at the building, and when she arrived, Cremas-Cocicero opened the lobby door and asked her to help. The witness said Cremas-Cocicero asked her to call 911, and she noticed that he had blood on him.
Detectives then called Cremas-Cocicero’s wife, who was in France for a wedding, and she told them that his mother was visiting from Mexico, was staying with him and had had dinner plans, the report said.
Cremas-Cocicero’s wife told detectives that Cremas-Cocicero and his mother were not close since his parents’ divorce, but said she wasn’t aware of any mental illness that Cremas-Cocicero dealt with, the report said. She also said that Cremas-Cocicero was under stress because he was opening a new restaurant in Coconut Grove.
During a search of the apartment, detectives found several kitchen knives that had blood residue and two shirts that had blood spatter, the report said.
Surveillance video from inside the building’s lobby, the report said, showed Cremas-Cocicero going into the elevators with his mother and both of them leaving. At one point, Cremas-Cocicero was seen entering the elevator with what appeared to be blood on his clothes and holding a knife.
He is then seen dropping the knife, picking it up and going into another elevator and going upstairs, the report said. Cremas-Cocicero is then seen entering another elevator with different clothes, leaving the building and walking on Southwest Eighth Street while on his phone.
Cremas-Cocicero then returns to the building’s lobby, sits down on the couch before talking to the first witness, the report said.
He was then arrested.
His mother’s identity was not released.
Who is Stefano Cremas-Cocicero
Records show that Cremas-Cocicero is from New York.
In the arrest report, his wife mentioned that he was feeling stressed due to opening a new restaurant in Coconut Grove.
According to Florida business records, Cremas-Cocicero is listed as a manager at 1986 Steak House in Coconut Grove.
Cremas-Cocicero’s attorney refused to comment on the case.