A man has been charged in the January murder of Jorge Diaz-Johnston, a prominent gay rights activist and the brother of former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.
The five count indictment, handed down by a circuit court in Leon County on Thursday, charges 37-year-old Steven Yinger with first-degree murder, tampering with evidence and grand theft.
According to the indictment, Yinger strangled Diaz-Johnston at his Tallahassee home in early January before dumping his body at a Jackson County landfill.
Diaz-Johnston's body was discovered on January 8th.
Yinger used Diaz-Johnston's BMW, iPhone and cash following the murder.
Diaz-Johnston’s husband Don says Jorge took Yinger in as his roommate after the two separated and were living apart.
Yinger has a criminal history that includes prison sentences for theft and cocaine distribution.
Jorge was a gay rights activist and the plaintiff in a historic same-sex marriage lawsuit challenging Florida’s ban on same sex marriage in 2014.
A Miami-Dade county judge ruled the ban unconstitutional a year before the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.