Two Indian Origin South Florida Residents Among Three Indicted for Murder of Airplane Mechanic Suren Seetal
- The 36-year-old resident of Miami-Dade County, who went missing on Nov. 2, was found dead while trying to collect a $315,000 debt he was owed by one of the alleged assailants.
Three South Florida men have been charged with violently kidnapping and murdering 36-year-old Suren Seetal, a resident of Miami-Dade County in Florida, the United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Florida announced last month. Seetal, an airplane mechanic went missing on Nov. 2 while running errands before his trip to Trinidad on the weekend, according to a GoFundMe account.
Somjeet Christopher “Lil Chris” Singh, 29; Avin “Smalls” Seetaram, 24; and 18-year-old Gavin Hunter have all been charged with “murder for hire conspiracy, murder for hire, kidnapping conspiracy, kidnapping and obstruction of justice,” the DOJ said. Seetal was killed while trying to collect a $315,000 debt he was owed.
Nov. 2, when he was leaving work. After leaving work, his telephone was in the vicinity of Dr. HVAC, Singh’s air conditioning business, before going off the network shortly thereafter.
Singh allegedly owed Seetal $315,000 and Seetal’s girlfriend told authorities that the airplane mechanic was looking to collect on that debt, People magazine reported, an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint. Seetal, Singh and Seetaram previously worked together in the fireworks business, the affidavit says, adding that the three had been communicating up until Seetal’s disappearance, when his phone was shut off on Nov. 2. The phone was last pinged at an air conditioning company owned by Singh. Seetal’s vehicle was also traced to that business, the affidavit said.
The next day, according to the affidavit, a tow truck took Seetal’s vehicle away from Singh’s business, which was allegedly traced by Florida’s Sunpass toll system. An employee of a relative of Singh allegedly drove that tow truck. There is also security footage captured at a Home Depot showing Singh and Seetaram buying a 96-gallon yard waste cart. Local news reports add that Seetaram’s cellphone was allegedly pinged traveling in the same direction as where Seetal’s body was eventually found. It’s believed Hunter is the one who fatally shot Seetal.
If convicted of the charges contained in the federal indictment, Seetaram, Singh, and Hunter each face a mandatory sentence of life in prison or the death penalty.