TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Murder defendant Enrique Toledo went on the run late last year about 13 hours after cutting off an ankle monitoring device. Now he is accused of another crime that happened about two years before the deadly shooting of his wife.
Heather Toledo, 37, was shot to death last July in her family’s Hillsborough County home. One of her daughters was in the same room and witnessed the incident. Two other children were nearby.
Toledo, 54, was arrested after the murder, but he fled without appearing at a December hearing to revoke his bond for allegedly violating a court order not to contact his children.
In an unrelated civil case, a jury hit Toledo with a $12.5 million civil judgment in February in the death of Maritza Jackson. Jackson, 59, died in 2021 shortly after moving out of Toledo’s now defunct Brandon nursing home.
Michael Brevda, the attorney in the civil case, uncovered another layer to Toledo’s rap sheet after the trial.
The certificate of insurance Toledo filed with the state to prove his facility was covered for liability was apparently falsified. The policy number on the document includes the year 2018 for coverage that started in 2020.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to determine these numbers don’t add up,” Brevda said. “It was falsified. I’ve never seen a falsified declaration sheet like the one we found in this case.”
The policy would not have covered the amount awarded to Jackson’s daughter but if the insurance was valid, it would have been a start.
“It really frustrates my clients ability to be made whole to receive compensation for the loss,” Brevda said. “It was not about the money. It was about accountability but now we have to find a way to make that happen.”
Brevda said his firm has hired a debt collecting attorney to scour through Toledo’s finances.
“We’re trying to find out if there’s any collectability there either through assets like real estate or currency in a bank account somewhere,” Brevda said.
Assisted living facilities are required to send proof of insurance to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (ACHA).
8 On Your Side asked ACHA if anyone checks the validity of the policies.
“We do not randomly or otherwise contact the insurance company to verify the information,” an unnamed spokesperson wrote in an email. “The provider has the responsibility to provide accurate information.”
Brevda said Jackson’s case could be a reason to change that.
“Maybe this causes the state, specifically ACHA to revise the way that they’re looking to confirm the proof of insurance,” Brevda said. “It absolutely destroys the legislative purpose to make sure that these kinds of losses are insured.”
The new twist in Toledo’s case is also frustrating Heather Toledo’s family, but not surprising.
Stephen and Michelle Green, Toledo’s brother and sister-in-law, now have custody of the couple’s children.
“Not a surprise,” Michelle Green said when told about the insurance document. “Look what he’s done.”
She said the children have good and bad days, but for her and her husband, thoughts of the crime and Toledo’s whereabouts do not go away.
“Every day. I think about it every day,” she said. “Are they going to find him today or is he going to find me today?”
Hillsborough County spokesman Marco Villarreal said the search for Toledo continues.
“The U.S. Marshals are currently searching for him,” Villarreal said. “If the U.S. Marshals are able to locate him, we will know once he is apprehended.”
Villarreal said anyone with information about Toledo should contact the sheriff’s office at 813-247-8200.
A website titled Enrique Toledo Wanted also emerged, offering a cash reward for information about the fugitive. No one from the site has responded to requests for comment, but several tips submitted to the webpage placed Toledo in Tampa in recent weeks.
