NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A 23-year-old man has been arrested in the February killing of soon-to-be-groom Hershy Schwartz in North Miami Beach, Local 10 News confirmed Thursday afternoon.
According to jail records, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrested Louis Antuwn Redmon on Wednesday. At a news conference Thursday, said he was behind an attempted “armed carjacking gone wrong” that cost Schwartz his life.
“They stole Hershy’s life,” North Miami Beach police Chief Harvette Smith said.
Schwartz was found shot dead on Feb. 19 in the parking lot of a Wendy’s at 25 NE 167th St., according to police. Members of the South Florida Orthodox Jewish community had been searching for answers ever since.
The 39-year-old had been preparing to travel to New York for a life-changing celebration, according to relatives. But instead of the joy of his wedding, Schwartz’s loved ones faced grief.
Hershey had a habit of leaving his house in the early morning hours and police said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When he was found, his wallet was gone his firearm and so was his phone.
According to an arrest warrant obtained by Local 10 News, surveillance video showed Redmon look into Schwartz’s SUV and then open the door, which led to a struggle.
The warrant states that Redmon then backed away and shot Schwartz.
According to police, Redmon, who is from Jacksonville, had been staying at the North Miami Beach Garden Inn & Suites hotel near the Golden Glades interchange before the shooting.
The warrant states that cell phone records showed that after the shooting, calls and text messages were placed from Schwartz’s phone to numbers registered to Redmon’s current or former girlfriend, as well as her son. Both of them were jailed at the time.
The mother-son duo both told police that Redmon was known not to have his own cellphone and to regularly borrow other people’s phones to make calls and send texts.
According to police, the two contacted Redmon, also known as “Bam,” via an Instagram video call on March 23, where he appeared to describe a general description of the crime, telling them he saw a man in a vehicle who appeared to be sleeping in the Wendy’s parking lot before the shooting. However, significant portions of the warrant were redacted.
Redmon faces charges of first-degree murder, armed robbery and armed carjacking, as well as felon in possession of a firearm.
Watch news conference:
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article misstated the relationship etween the two inmates. It has since been corrected.