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Previously Deported Illegal Charged In Eustis Murder

    On Tuesday, June 2, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office announced charges had been filed in the death of 44-year-old Monica Islam.  The Eustis resident was found dead on May 2 in the area of Wolf Branch Drive and Scenic Hills Drive in the Mount Dora area, after having disappeared while at work at a Shell gas station in Eustis.
    Islam’s brother-in-law, Shahidul Islam, has been charged with first-degree murder in the case.
    Detectives working the case found Shahidul Islam had been previously deported and had an active federal immigration warrant after again illegally re-entering the United States.  Connected to a home in Sanford, he had recently fled Florida and went to New York.  He was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals on May 6.
    Video evidence and a search of Shahidul Islam’s vehicle indicate he arrived at Monica Islam’s work location around 5:15 a.m. on the morning of the incident, with her walking toward his car shortly after.  License plate readers put his vehicle in the location where her body was found around 6 a.m., and around 6:30 a.m. he began searching the Internet for information regarding the incident.  Around 7 a.m. he returned a Longwood residence, and around 7:30 a.m. Monica Islam’s body was found.  A search of his vehicle revealed a shattered passenger side window, and blood stains that resulted in a presumptive match to Monica Islam’s DNA.