Broward, FL: Three men from Broward County, Florida, are staring down the barrel of potential life sentences or the death penalty after being charged with several crimes, including murder for hire, kidnapping, and obstruction of justice, in connection to the death of a Miami-Dade resident, authorities announced yesterday.
Prosecutors announced on Monday that Avin “Smalls” Seetaram, 24, Somjeet Christopher Singh, 29, also known as “Lil Chris,” and Gavin Hunter, 18, all residents of Broward, have been indicted by a federal grand jury. The three men have been charged with the kidnapping and murder of a South Florida airplane mechanic who went missing last month. Suren Seetal, a 36-year-old employee at Opa-Locka Airport and Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, was last seen on Nov. 2 at his job in Fort Lauderdale. His family reported that he did not return home that night and did not show up for work the following day.
Authorities revealed that Seetal’s phone was traced to the vicinity of Singh’s air conditioning business, Dr. HVAC in Margate, before it went off the network. Seetal’s body was discovered on Nov. 21 at Big Cypress Reservation.
According to newly obtained federal court documents shedding light on the alleged November kidnapping and murder of the 36-year-old airplane mechanic. It was estimated that Somjeet Christopher Singh owed Suren Seetal about $315,000, and Seetal had begun attempting to collect the money. So Singh — also known as “Lil Chris” — instructed another suspect to hire a hitman to murder him.
While Seetal, of Miami-Dade, worked in the aviation field and Singh, 29, ran a Broward HVAC business, federal prosecutors allege that the two were also in the business of buying and selling fireworks — and that’s where the massive debt stemmed from. Prosecutors allege that Singh gave 24-year-old Avin Seetaram — also known as “Smalls” — $5,000 in cash and forgave $10,000 worth of his debt in order to hire a hitman to kill Seetal. Seetaram sent Seetal a text message telling him to come to the Dr. HVAC warehouse on Nov. 2, where a key was hidden inside a drawer. That’s where prosecutors said Hunter shot and killed him.
Seetaram and Singh were arrested on Nov. 21, while Hunter was taken into custody on Friday. Seetal’s family had expressed their concern when he initially went missing, stating that his disappearance was out of character for him. They shared that he had plans to fly to Trinidad to visit his family but never made it there. Seetal’s sister, Karen Seetal, described him as a “social butterfly” who would never go a day without communicating with someone.
If convicted, Seetaram, Singh, and Hunter could face a mandatory life sentence in prison or the death penalty. The investigation into the case is ongoing.