Two guilty in hit attempt on renowned Miami car designer to the stars. But who hired them?

Alex Vega turned his car customizing shop into a rare thing in Kendall — a genuine celebrity hot spot that spun off a TV show and attracted sports stars, entertainers and other big names, including singer Marc Anthony, rapper Rick Ross and Jamaican Olympic gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt, to name just a few.

Then somebody tried to murder him.

In a mysterious 2019 hit-style ambush, a gunman pumped pistol shots into Vega as he got out of his own car in the driveway of his home. Almost exactly four year later, part of the plot has been pieced together with the convictions this month of both the trigger man and a getaway driver.

But a key part of the puzzle remains unsolved: Who hired two men from New York to try to take out Vega, who survived his wounds and returned to running his business, The Auto Firm.

At a two-week trial for the getaway driver, federal prosecutors and defense attorneys danced around that question, tossing about potential suspects’ names and possible motives for why anyone would want to have Vega killed. Was it someone in the music or sports worlds, a disgruntled former customer or business connection or someone else? Investigators and others may have theories but prosecutors don’t have enough evidence to charge anyone with bankrolling the apparent murder-for-hire plot.

And the two defendants who were charged in the case and convicted this month in Miami federal court aren’t saying who hired them or what they were supposed to be paid to take out the renowned car builder and designer.

Only this much is known for sure:

Before his federal trial this month, Julian Jimenez, 27, the defendant accused of shooting Vega, pleaded guilty to interstate stalking, conspiring to use a firearm during a crime of violence and discharging the weapon to carry out the assault. Then, on Thursday, the accused getaway driver, Jaime Serrano, 46, was found guilty of the same three charges in Miami federal court — but the 12-person jury determined that he did not use a dangerous weapon or discharge a firearm during the assault.

The two defendants face a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life at their sentencing hearings scheduled in November before U.S. District Judge Roy Altman.

The attempted hit went down like this: On Aug. 27, 2019, Vega, then 45, was gunned down while getting out of his car in the driveway at his home in the Kendale Lakes area. He was shot twice in the back, according to Miami-Dade police.

According to court records, Serrano and Jimenez flew together on an American Airlines flight from New York to Miami on Aug. 21, 2019, and then scoped out Vega’s auto business and home in preparation for the planned hit job.

Six days later, Serrano drove a blue Nissan Rogue to Vega’s home. Jimenez exited the passenger seat and donned a black face mask and gloves, then brandished a gun that Serrano gave him after they had arrived in Miami, according to a factual statement filed with Jimenez’s plea deal.

On the evening of Aug. 27, 2019, Vega drove into the garage of his home. Jimenez then “approached the vehicle and fired multiple rounds into the vehicle at the victim,” according to the statement. “The victim was shot but survived.”

After the shooting, Jimenz fled eastbound through the residential community to meet up with Serrano in the Nissan Rogue, the statement said. Jimenez abandoned the mask, gloves and firearm along the way. Jimenez hopped into the Nissan Rogue through the trunk, and Serrano drove away.

In his statement, Jimenez said he committed the shooting for money but he never got paid because he did not kill Vega.

While both were in custody after their arrests, Jimenez also admitted that Serrano persuaded him to write a handwritten statement “claiming that he acted alone and without Jaime Serrano’s knowledge in planning and shooting Alex Vega.”

“That handwritten statement is not true,” according to Jimenez’s admission, which is part of his plea deal reached with federal prosecutors Michael Gilfarb, Abbie Waxman and Katherine Guthrie.

Vega, who suffered injuries, testified at the trial that he suffers from post-tramautic stress disorder because of the violent assault He still operates his auto business.

Vega’s company, The Auto Firm, has attracted rappers, sports stars and other celebrities to the Kendall shop, which has customized hundreds of vehicles for high-end customers looking for luxury and creativity.

Among them: boxing champ Floyd Mayweather and Bolt, an eight-time Olympic gold medal winner whose car was upholstered in the colors of the Jamaican flag: green, black and yellow.

Vega made the cover of the Miami Herald and The New York Times once dubbed his shop, “Where The Stars Get Their Rides.” Vega also appeared on his own TV show on the Discovery network, “The Auto Firm with Alex Vega.” Among clients featured during the 2017 run: singer Teyana Taylor, Zumba creator Beto Perez and New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.

The auto designer created his own brand, Avorza. He provided an Avorza edition of a Polaris Slingshot to Fonsi, the singer best known for his mega-hit song Despacito. Fonsi even recorded a video for Vega’s YouTube channel. Vega’s Instagram page also showed him traveling alongside other Latin stars, such as Maluma and Marc Anthony.

“Marc Anthony started out as a client. He wanted to build a limousine and today he’s a friend, a brother, a part of the family,” Vega told the Miami Herald in 2018.