A Bangladeshi man accused of re-entering the United States illegally multiple times after deportation has been indicted in the alleged execution-style killing of his sister-in-law, whose body was discovered along a Florida roadside last year, prosecutors said Friday.
Shahidul Islam, 44, was indicted Wednesday by a Lake County grand jury on a charge of first-degree premeditated murder in the May 2, 2025, death of Monica Islam, also 44, according to State Attorney Bill Gladson.
Prosecutors said they intend to pursue the death penalty, arguing that the fatal attack could have been avoided if the system had functioned as it should have.
“This crime was completely preventable,” Gladson said as he outlined what he described as Islam’s lengthy and troubling history involving U.S. immigration authorities.
According to media reports, investigators allege Monica’s husband, Rashedul Islam, and his brother Shahidul had previously been accused of domestic violence against her in a December 2024 case.
Monica, 44, was last seen at the convenience store where her daughter worked, before surveillance video allegedly showed her heading toward Islam’s vehicle. After that, she disappeared.
Around 7 a.m., a passerby came upon a grim scene near an intersection outside Mount Dora: a woman’s body left on the side of the road. Authorities said she had been shot in the head.
Investigators said cellphone data and internet activity uncovered multiple “suspicious” searches related to murder on the morning Monica was killed.
A search warrant for Islam’s vehicle uncovered a shattered passenger-side window, a bullet projectile lodged in the door and bloodstains inside the vehicle — as DNA testing matched the blood to Monica, prosecutors said.
Islam allegedly rented another car and bolted for sanctuary in New York City following the murder.
According to Gladson, Islam had spent more than half a decade bouncing through the immigration system.
Gladson said court and immigration records show Islam had been deported, illegally re-entered the US, served a 10-month federal prison sentence for an immigration offense and was later released under supervision.
Prosecutors allege he failed to report to his probation officer and disappeared, using aliases while traveling around the country.
Then Monica crossed his path.
“No family should ever have to endure the pain of such a senseless and horrific attack of violence as this one,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said in a statement. “Shahidul Islam Illegally enetered our country after being deported, committed this heinous crime, and then fled to a sanctuary city.”
He was eventually located in New York thanks to a joint law enforcement operation, prosecuted on a federal immigration charge and returned to Lake County to face the murder case, authorities said.
Florida “will continue to stand firm against crime, sanctuary cities and illegal immigration,” and “will never apologize for putting the safety of law-abiding families first,” Ingoglia said.
