NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – North Miami Beach police arrested a 32-year-old man Friday on an attempted murder charge; he’s accused of stabbing his roommate in a Planet Fitness parking lot in what authorities are labeling a hate crime.
The suspect, Tyler Blake Alexander, was previously accused of murder in Miami back in 2014. According to Miami-Dade court records, he was deemed not competent to stand trial nearly seven years later, in 2021.
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According to an arrest report, Alexander and the victim are roommates at an assisted living facility near the Planet Fitness at 1630 NE 163rd St.
North Miami Beach police said the stabbing happened just before 3 a.m. Friday.
The victim told police that Alexander had asked him to smoke with him in the gym’s parking lot, the report states. Police said Alexander then pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim several times.
The victim was able to run to the yard of their home while being chased by Alexander, and knocked on the back door and screamed, “He is trying to kill me,” police said.
A fellow resident opened the door and told Alexander to drop the knife and to separate, police said. That resident called police.
Police said the victim was taken to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital in critical condition, while Alexander was taken to Jackson North Medical Center with injuries to his right hand.
The report states that detectives interviewed Alexander at the hospital.
It states that Alexander told police that he had been drinking margaritas with the victim in the parking lot and began to “fear for his life” as the two talked, due to the victim being of the “Lutheran faith and a devil worshiper,” whereas “he is of the Jewish faith.”
Alexander claimed he had to stab the victim multiple times “for his safety,” police said.
According to police, Alexander had asked to borrow the knife from another roommate.
Authorities arrested Alexander on a charge of attempted second-degree murder with prejudice.
According to Miami-Dade court records, Miami police previously arrested Alexander on a first-degree murder charge on Oct. 31, 2014. The charge was later changed to second-degree murder.
Alexander, originally from Arkansas, had been accused of beating a man to death and leaving him on a sidewalk.
Between that date and April 29, 2021, when the case against him was dismissed, Alexander had submitted to numerous psychological evaluations.
Circuit Judge Robert Watson determined that “clear and convincing evidence” showed that Alexander had been unfit to stand trial for the preceding five years and was “not likely to regain competency within the foreseeable future,” ordering the case dismissed.
After his latest arrest, Alexander was being held without bond in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Monday morning.