Key facts
- Emilio Valdez was lured to a meeting via Snapchat before being shot and killed.
- Valdez was shot in the chest and the back of the head and was alive when thrown into Osmun Lake.
- Valdez's body was recovered from the lake, with evidence suggesting he was dragged to the water.
- Angel Jose Alvarez was identified as a suspect and later convicted of second-degree murder.
- Alvarez's mother reported the vehicle used in the crime as stolen after her son's call.
- Alvarez was sentenced to 36½ to 80 years in prison in July 2024.
Emilio Valdez, a 20-year-old athlete from Pontiac, Michigan, was lured to a meeting via a Snapchat message before being shot and killed on June 7, 2018. Investigators determined he sustained gunshot wounds to the chest and the back of the head and was still alive when his body was thrown into Osmun Lake. His sister, Tiffany Valdez, recalled hearing gunshots and seeing the car Emilio had entered speeding away. The family learned of his death through social media and later identified his body. Evidence found near the lake included a trail of blood, tire tracks, drag marks, and a vehicle that appeared to have struck benches. The vehicle, a Pontiac Grand Prix, was later found submerged a few miles away and reported stolen by Angel Jose Alvarez's mother, Guadalupe Maria Davila-Rodriguez. Alvarez, who had a criminal background, was questioned but denied involvement. The case remained unsolved for nearly four years until a new detective team reopened it in 2022. Reviewing Emilio's Snapchat activity, investigators found a message linked to Alvarez that was sent shortly before Emilio left home. Phone records indicated Alvarez contacted his brother and mother after the killing, and his mother later reported the car stolen. Alvarez, his brother Juan Diego Hernandez, and their mother were arrested. Alvarez was convicted of second-degree murder in June 2024 and sentenced to 36½ to 80 years in prison the following month. Hernandez and Davila-Rodriguez pleaded no contest to reduced charges of lying to police during the investigation and received lesser sentences. The exact motive for the killing remains officially undetermined, though jealousy is suspected by the victim's family.