CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) — Ilia Andoni and his father sat on one side of a Pinellas County courtroom on Friday. On the other side, sat the loved ones of Paulino Trejo-Mendoza and Ariadna Sanchez Monrroy, the two people police said Andoni killed in a car crash in Largo in January.
While Friday’s status check revolved around a motion to revoke the $100,000 bond set for those two vehicular homicide charges, it stemmed from an incident in February, where Clearwater police said Andoni messaged a victim through a hotel app called Zingle about a reservation at the Opal Sands Resort & Spa.
The police affidavit said Andoni told the victim, “Everyone pays one day, stay safe before I kill you.”
After minutes of back and forth, a judge revoked Andoni’s bond and Pinellas County deputies led him away to the jail, but not before Andoni made a statement.
“I was in shock,” Andoni said to the courtroom. “Too many people from Mexico, they threaten my life, my wife, my daughter, my parents. They try to kill me.”
He also made a request of the court.
“If I go to custody,” Andoni asked. “I want protection for my wife, for my daughter, for my parents. That’s it.”
The Trejo-Mendoza sat in silence through the proceedings, wiping away tears.
“I felt relieved, I’m glad he’s in there,” said Jennifer Trejo-Mendoza. “He didn’t deserve to even be bonded out to begin with.”
They denied any interaction with Andoni and said they were pleased with the outcome.
“I even made it clear to everybody to just stay away,” said Trejo-Mendoza. “I don’t even know why would he say that, it was just, it’s a lie.”
They said they will continue to keep watch on the case.
“We feel a little bit better,” Trejo-Mendoza said. “But it still doesn’t take away that pain that we feel, and I don’t think that pain is ever going to go away.”