MIAMI – A woman who identified herself as the girlfriend of a man shot and killed outside a Miami gas station early Sunday morning said she believes his death was over a $10 debt.
“Word on the street is that it was over $10 from a couple years ago,” Nicole Marks said.
Police placed yellow evidence markers on the outdoor countertop at the Chevron gas station convenience store on Northwest 79th Street near North Miami Avenue in Miami’s Little River neighborhood.
Authorities received the 911 call around 3:45 a.m. Sunday.
When officers arrived, they found the victim unresponsive while suffering from a gunshot wound.
Miami Fire Rescue workers pronounced the man dead on the scene.
Local 10 News has learned that the man who was shot and killed was 28-year-old Kwakiutl Belizaire. Police have not confirmed the victim’s name.
Marks told Local 10′s Roy Ramos that she was standing next to Belizaire when he was shot, and that she did everything she could until the moment he died in her arms.
“I was holding the hole, he had a big hole in his chest,” she said.
An employee of the gas station, who did not want to give his name, described what he saw to Local 10′s Madeleine Wright, saying the victim was popular in the area.
“When I found out who it was, that’s what made me be like ‘Oh my God’ because I knew who that man is,’ ” the employee said. “He’s a good man. He comes in, he’s goofy, he laughs, he talks to everybody. Everybody in the neighborhood knows him.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-8477.