David Zayas exits Dexter: Resurrection as Angel Batista dies in episode 7

David Zayas exits Dexter

After nearly two decades on screen, a beloved Dexter character has finally uncovered the truth about Dexter Morgan—only to die moments later, taking the secret with him.

In the latest episode of Dexter: Resurrection, poignantly titled Touched by an Angel, fans said an emotional goodbye to David Zayas’ Angel Batista, the sharp-suited, big-hearted detective who had been with the franchise since the very beginning.

Always loyal, often overlooked, and quietly one of the show's moral centres, Angel had spent this season inching ever closer to the truth. And when he finally connected the dots—that Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher—it cost him everything.

But in a surprising twist, it’s not Dexter who kills him.

Angel seeks out Leon Prater (Peter Dinklage), a wealthy and enigmatic philanthropist with strange ties to Dexter. Hoping for help, Angel instead finds danger—Prater is a serial killer obsessive who wants to bankroll Dexter’s bloody return, under one condition: Dexter must kill Angel.

When Dexter walks into the scene, Angel is already strapped to a gurney in a twisted imitation of one of his own kill rooms. But Dexter can’t go through with it. Instead, he cuts Angel free, hoping they can fight back together.

That hope is short-lived. Furious and grief-stricken, Angel attacks, blaming Dexter not just for what he’s done, but for the people they both lost—Maria LaGuerta, James Doakes, friends turned collateral damage in Dexter’s secret life. Then, in a moment of calculated cruelty, Prater shoots Angel in the back and flees.

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In his final breaths, Dexter tries to explain, to apologise. But Angel isn’t interested in excuses. “Dexter Morgan… fuck you,” he says with steely defiance, before dying in front of the man he once called a friend.

Reflecting on the moment with The Hollywood Reporter, Zayas said: “That’s A to Z right there… you don’t have to be alive to be on this show… I always have hope!” He’d known Angel’s fate from the start of filming. “All I could say was, ‘Wow. That’s really good.’”