POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – An 18-year-old man has been at the Broward County main jail in Fort Lauderdale since Wednesday accused of murder.
Lawan Jones, who turns 19 in September, was accused of shooting Keith B. Poole, a 44-year-old father of three.
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“Poole was standing outside of his residence,” Miranda Grossman, a spokeswoman for the Broward Sheriff’s Office, wrote in a statement after the shooting in Pompano Beach.
According to a relative, Jones was dating Poole’s 17-year-old daughter, who witnessed the fatal shooting shortly before 4:45 p.m., Monday, in Pompano Beach’s Cresthaven neighborhood.
“The shooter fled the scene,” Grossman wrote.
Jones allegedly took Jessie Poole, his girlfriend, with him as he ran away from the house at 1585 NE 28 St. BSO deputies and Pompano Beach Fire Rescue personnel responded.
Fire rescue personnel took Keith Poole to Broward Health North, at 201 E. Sample Road, in Deerfield Beach, where a doctor later declared him dead.
Lighthouse Point Police Department officers responded to 2201 NE 34 St. to assist BSO deputies during the search that ended Wednesday.
“Jessie Poole has been safely located and has been reunited with family,” Carey Codd, a BSO spokesman, wrote on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Keith Poole’s friends, family, and community remembered him as a father, who had decided to help Jones, an orphan.
One wrote to Jones on Facebook: “He moved you in his home, fed you, and probably gave you the type of love you needed and you take his life?”
Some remembered Keith Poole as a Charles W. Flanagan High School graduate who loved music. Kevin Ceron shared his grief on Facebook describing Poole as a charismatic man.
“This man had the power to break boundaries. He didn’t care about your skin color, your status, your past, your background,” Ceron wrote. “He would treat you with respect and show you his generosity.”
Jones is facing one count of first-degree murder with a firearm.
Detectives asked anyone with information about the case to call Detective Steve Novak at 954-321-4325 or Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477 to remain anonymous.