MIAMI, Fla. – A rival gang member is responsible for the killing of an 85-year-old known in the neighborhood as “Miss Liz,” according to Miami-Dade County’s State Attorney and the City of Miami’s police chief.
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle and City of Miami Police Chief Manuel A. Morales announced the arrest of 24-year-old James Calvin Velazquez. Elizabeth Level died after being shot in the head while sitting on a chair outside her Liberty City home on Sept. 9. Police say she was not the intended target.
An arrest report shows that Velazquez was arrested in Hallandale, booked into the Broward County jail, and charged with first-degree murder as well as possession of oxycodone.
According to authorities, family members residing at the grandmother’s home are alleged members of a specific gang. Velazquez is alleged to be a member of a rival gang, they said.
Information regarding the shooting was obtained from a City of Miami Police Department Real Time Crime Center trailer camera which had been previously placed directly across the grandmother’s residence due to previous shootings and investigations occurring at the address, according to the report.
The arrest of Velazquez is only the first of several expected additional arrests, according to Morales.