NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A Miami man is facing first-degree murder and armed robbery charges in connection with the fatal shooting of a South Florida smoke shop owner inside of his store in June.
Police said William Robinson, 23, of Liberty City, was one of four men seen on surveillance video during the deadly June 11 robbery at Miami Cloudz, located at 2063 NE 163rd St. in North Miami Beach.
Recommended Videos
Authorities said they had come in the store and asked owner Salem Albakri to see “several pieces of merchandise.”
One of the men, wearing a red hoodie, then pulled out a gun and shot and killed Albakri, 35, who had recently opened the store to support himself and wife, as he was running away.
An arrest warrant, issued Aug. 13, states that North Miami Beach police were alerted to the shooting by an unidentified third party who knew Albakri and became suspicious after he did not answer his phone.
That person had access to the business’s surveillance cameras and checked them to find Albakri lying on the floor, it states.
Authorities said that surveillance footage shows Robinson, wearing a navy blue T-shirt, placing his left hand on the counter while viewing merchandise.
Those fingerprints would be a key clue, eventually matching Robinson’s, police said. Police said they also identified him through facial recognition software.
Robinson was in custody at the Broward County jail at the time of his extradition to Miami-Dade County on Tuesday, an arrest report shows.
He was being held without bond in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Wednesday.
Authorities have not yet said whether they’ve identified the other three suspects.
Following the shooting, North Miami Beach police asked anyone with information to call Detective Allen Daise at 305-949-5500 ext. 3535 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
Suspect photos: