The man charged in the shooting was ordered held without bond at his first court appearance.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Friends of Edwin Collazo are mourning a father of four after Orlando police said he was shot following an altercation Sunday night, and the man charged in the case appeared before a judge two days later.
The shooting has become both a homicide case and a community loss story in Orlando. Police say Collazo, 35, was found wounded on Bethune Drive and later died at a hospital. Investigators identified 43-year-old Dancing Days Pacheco Santana as the suspect and said he was later taken into custody. At his first court appearance Wednesday, a judge ordered him held without bond as the case proceeds.
According to Orlando police, officers responded around 10:37 p.m. on April 5 to the 1000 block of Bethune Drive after a reported shooting. There, they found Collazo with gunshot wounds. Emergency responders took him to a hospital, but he did not survive. Investigators later said the shooting grew out of a verbal and physical altercation involving two men who knew each other. That detail has shaped the early understanding of the case, suggesting the encounter was not random even though police have not publicly explained what triggered the dispute. Authorities said Santana fled the scene after the shooting, then was arrested later by tactical officers. The arrest set up a first appearance in court on Wednesday, where the judge imposed immediate restrictions.
Those restrictions included holding Santana without bond and barring him from contacting the victim’s family or returning to the scene. He faces charges of first-degree murder with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Police have not publicly spelled out what evidence led detectives to those specific charges, and they have not released a more detailed account of the confrontation. Investigators also have not said whether they are relying on witness statements, video, physical evidence, or some combination of all three. What they have said is that the matter remains an active investigation. That leaves several open questions at this stage, including the exact timeline of the argument, whether anyone tried to intervene, and whether prosecutors could later refine or expand the case through formal filings.
While the legal process begins, friends have focused on the man they lost. They described Collazo as lively, funny and skilled with his hands. Jefferyy Louis said Collazo was “a father of four” and “a goofball,” using plain words that painted a picture of someone whose presence was easy to notice. Louis said Collazo had “his own personality,” and that friends are still in disbelief over his death. Those memories added a personal layer to a case otherwise framed by police timelines and courtroom procedure. Friends also said Collazo was the kind of person who showed people how to do things, especially mechanical work. Louis said Collazo taught him how to work on cars, a memory that turned grief into something more concrete: the loss of a man whose everyday help had become part of other people’s lives.
That kind of remembrance matters in a case like this because it fills in what police reports usually cannot. A homicide investigation can establish where officers went, when they arrived and what charges followed. It does not fully capture what a death means to relatives, children, friends and neighbors. In this case, those closest to Collazo have made clear that the loss is spreading across a wider community. Louis said, “We can’t believe E is gone,” describing how often people are thinking and talking about the death. The statement was brief, but it pointed to the shock left behind after sudden violence. Police have not described any broader threat to the area, and they have said the men knew each other, yet the emotional impact has still moved beyond the two people at the center of the confrontation.
The next steps are expected to unfold in court and through the continuing police investigation. Prosecutors will have to present the case through the normal felony process, and later hearings may reveal more about the evidence and the state’s theory of what happened on Bethune Drive. Defense arguments, if filed, could also sharpen the disputed facts. For now, the public account remains limited but significant: officers answered a late-night shooting call, a 35-year-old man died, a 43-year-old suspect was arrested, and a judge ordered him to remain in custody. Friends, meanwhile, are left holding onto memories of a man they say made people laugh, helped others with practical skills and was deeply tied to his children.
As of Thursday, the investigation is still open. The next major development is likely to come from future court dates or additional information released by Orlando police.
Author note: Last updated April 9, 2026.