KENDALE LAKES, Fla. – Surveillance videos show how a man defended himself from three armed robbers in February and ended up facing charges himself about two months later in Miami-Dade County.
The Miami-Dade Police Department released two videos Tuesday showing Christopher Luis on Feb. 13 at a drive-through ATM outside of a BB&T Bank in Kendale Lakes.
Luis was wearing a black and white “Gun Club” shirt with two large firearm icons. He was driving a white Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. And when he saw the robbers’ reflection on his rearview mirrors, his gun was within reach.
“He was entitled to meet their force with firearms with the equal amount of force, so he was within his right to stand his ground and use deadly force against the people who were trying to rob him,” said Attorney David Weinstein, a former prosecutor, after watching the video.
THE FIRST SHOOTING
Detectives identified the armed robbers who tried to ambush Luis as Nimikae Clarke, 16, and D’Angelo Davis, then 17.
Video shows Davis approached the passenger’s side window and Nimikae was near the driver’s side window. Luis moved quickly to shoot Nimikae.
Stanely Al Clark Jr., then 18, was hiding behind a nearby wall that divides the bank from the street, records show. Detectives said Clark and D’Angelo shot at Luis and ran away.
Nimikae fell near the ATM bleeding.
Luis got out of the car, took the teenage boy’s gun, and he drove away, police said. He suffered gunshot wounds to his left bicep and right hand and doctors treated him at the Kendall Regional Medical Center, police said.
THE SECOND SHOOTING
The videos from the bank’s surveillance cameras show Luis returned to the drive-through area about four minutes later after foiling the attempted robbery.
Without getting out of his truck, he used Nimikae’s gun to shoot him again, police said. As he fired the weapon at least 10 more times, he was on the phone reporting he was being shot at by assailants, according to the arrest warrant.
Officers found the teenage boy dead and released a flyer on Feb. 17 asking the public for information on the fatal shooting. The teen had just been reunited with his mother after spending nearly two years in a juvenile correctional facility.
CRIMINAL CHARGES
Officers arrested Clark on Feb. 24, Davis on June 14, and Luis on April 22.
Luis is facing a charge of aggravated battery with a firearm. In an unexpected twist, a judge issued a warrant for his arrest on April 20. Prosecutors cleared him of murder and manslaughter charges and filed the case that remained open on Tuesday. He has a hearing on Aug. 12, according to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
Davis, now 18, and Clark, now 19, are both facing charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder with a firearm, and attempted robbery with a firearm.
Detectives working on a narcotics investigation on June 14 in Miami-Dade’s Perrine neighborhood ran into Davis, who was armed with a stolen black Glock 43X, according to the arrest form. Prosecutors filed a second case against him on June 15, so Davis is also facing two felony charges of illegally carrying a concealed firearm and third-degree grand theft.
Davis and Clark are both being held without bond. Miami Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation records show Clark is not being held in a Miami-Dade facility and Davis is at the Metrowest Detention Center in Doral.
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The initial flyer in the case
SEEKING INFORMATION: On 2/13/21, Nimikae Clarke was killed in the area of SW 137 Avenue & SW 88 Street. Anyone with information is urged to contact @CrimeStopper305 at (305) 471-8477 or by dialing **TIPS. pic.twitter.com/TpGkY23kon
— Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) February 17, 2021
Arrest warrant in Luis’s case
Arrest warrant in Christopher Luis' case by AndreaTorres on Scribd
4:30 p.m. report
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Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Guadalupe Monarrez and Assignment Desk Manager Alissa Merlo contributed to this report.