Fellow homicide detective, Batista works closely with Dexter on forensics cases. While he may not share Dexter's blood lust, he definitely appreciates the art of killing.David Zayas (48 episodes, 2006-2009)
A former New York City police officer, David Zayas began his acting career when he teamed up with Philip Seymour Hoffman at the Labyrinth Theater Company. Since then, Zayas has starred in more than 30 plays, including "Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train," "In Arabia We'd All Be Kings" and "Our Lady Of 121st St." While performing in New York plays, he began to book roles on hit TV shows such as New York Undercover, Law & Order and NYPD Blue, all while working for the New York Police Department. Zayas' success earned him a leading role on UPN's crime drama The Beat. Soon after, Tom Fontana (writer of The Beat) created the character of 'Enrique Morales,' the fierce leader of the Latino prisoners on HBO's Oz, especially for Zayas.
His feature film credits include BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, THE YARDS, UNDEFEATED, WIT, ANGEL and THE INTERPRETER. He also recently starred in the feature film MICHAEL CLAYTON opposite George Clooney, and THE SAVAGES with Philip Seymour Hoffman. Zayas was also seen in SIXTEEN BLOCKS opposite Bruce Willis, and in the ABC mini-series The Path To 9/11, as well as on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Anna In the Tropics," and he starred in the film FLYING BY opposite Heather Locklear. Next year, Zayas will star in the highly anticipated films THE EXPENDABLES alongside Hollywood heavy hitters, including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Micky Rourke and 13, where he stars alongside Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke; and 50 Cent. For his role on DEXTER, Zayas was recently nominated for an Imagen Award.
