JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man who was out on bond and awaiting trial after a recent arrest in Jacksonville was arrested again Sunday in Central Florida after allegedly slashing a victim during a carjacking.
Following his arrest over the weekend, Alexander Acs told investigators he had killed someone in an Orlando apartment last week with a piece of asphalt, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Acs, a 32-year-old man whose last known address was in Arlington, was later arrested on first-degree murder charges after a body was discovered and is expected to face robbery and carjacking charges, too.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called around 10 a.m. on Sunday to an armed carjacking near Orlando. Deputies said the culprit, later identified as Acs, slashed the victim with a box cutter and stole their car. The victim is expected to survive.
After Acs was arrested, he admitted to the carjacking and also told investigators that he had killed someone he was staying with last week, the Sheriff’s Office said. He then led them to an apartment where a victim’s body was found decomposing inside.
Acs told investigators he came to Orlando on Jan. 7 to “locate an ex-girlfriend whom pressed charges against him in Hillsborough County, Florida resulting in a warrant for his arrest,” according to his arrest report. He wanted to come to Orlando and “take everything from her,” then flee the country, according to deputies.
Acs told investigators he eventually met the victim who allowed him to stay at their home when he was in Orlando.
In order to get back at his ex-girlfriend, Acs told deputies, he believed he needed a gun so he came up with a plan to kill the person he was staying with and take their gun.
According to the report, Acs said he brought a piece of asphalt into the apartment, waited until the right moment, then smashed the man over the head. Acs said the victim put up a fight but he eventually was able to tie the victim’s hands with a phone charging cable and stuff a sock in their mouth, the report states. Acs then unsuccessfully searched for a gun in the apartment before striking the victim over the head two more times, he told investigators. He then dragged the victim into a bedroom, covered them with clothes and doused the house in lighter fluid in an attempt to mask the smell the body would eventually give off, according to the report.
Acs, the report states, then destroyed the victim’s phone and took off.
Over the next couple days, Acs told deputies, he slept in the woods while still trying to track down his ex-girlfriend before he was eventually arrested for carjacking.
After his arrest, the Sheriff’s Office said, Acs expressed no remorse and indicated that he would plead guilty to the first-degree murder charge in the hopes of getting the death penalty.
Jacksonville connection
Acs was released from prison in June 2021 and moved to Jacksonville where he took up residence at Prisoners of Christ, a ministry for ex-offenders that was founded by a convicted bank robber.
News4JAX on Monday visited the non-profit and attempted to contact the founder, but was unable to speak with him. News4JAX crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson said the organization has been successful in helping men and women transfer back into society after being in prison.
“They take men just out of prison, they provide shelter for them and provide them with opportunities to work as well as get out on their feet,” Jefferson said.
Acs was arrested in Jacksonville in October and accused of domestic assault and theft of a firearm. Police were called to a home by a woman who said Acs had assaulted her and stolen her handgun.
The charge was eventually reduced to simple battery and Acs was out on bond awaiting trial. The State Attorney’s Office filed a motion to revoke his bond when it learned he violated a no-contact order and was allegedly sending texts to the woman.