MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade police arrested a multi-time convicted felon Wednesday in connection with a June murder case from the county’s Gladeview area.
Wayne Sanders, 29, of Orlando, is accused of shooting and killing 18-year-old Shakeria Denise Williams as she sat in a vehicle; police said Sanders was firing at another woman during an altercation and instead shot Williams, an “innocent victim.”
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According to Miami-Dade police, the shooting happened at around 11 p.m. on June 1 in the 2000 block of Northwest 65th Street.
Police said Williams was sitting in the back seat of a BMW when Sanders got in an argument with a woman in the parking lot.
An arrest warrant states that the argument went from verbal to physical after Sanders threw an alcoholic beverage at the woman and she threw her cellphone back at him.
CCTV footage shows Sanders threatening to kill the woman; she then armed herself as he walked back to his vehicle, the warrant states.
Police said Sanders “return(ed) to reengage” and the surveillance video shows another man handing him a gun, which Sanders fires in the air.
The warrant states that the woman took cover behind Williams’ vehicle and Sanders continued discharging the “automatic pistol gunfire,” hitting Williams with the barrage of bullets.
Police said Sanders “appear(ed) to realize that he shot the innocent victim,” got into a Mercedes-Benz and fled.
Officers and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews responded shortly after. Medics declared Williams, of Opa-locka, dead at the scene, having suffered multiple gunshot wounds, including at least one to the chest.
The warrant states that as detectives processed the scene, Sanders reportedly called Williams’ father and told him that “once he kills” the other woman, he will “turn himself in.”
According to Florida Department of Corrections records, Sanders, who is also known by the street name “Little Weezy,” spent nearly seven years in prison following Miami-Dade convictions for attempted murder and attempted armed robbery.
He had a previous stint in state custody following convictions in Miami-Dade for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felon carrying a concealed weapon.
Authorities didn’t state how Sanders was apprehended; he was officially arrested at around 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where he remained behind bars without bond Thursday on charges of second-degree murder, felon in possession of a firearm and possessing a short-barreled shotgun, rifle or machine gun.