MIAMI – A murder trial continued Tuesday after a man was killed at a motel back in 2013.
Jurors heard from two victims of crimes that are separate from the case but are also linked to Anthawn Ragan.
Prosecutors said evidence from those crimes links Ragan, now 30, to the November 2013 murder of 21-year-old Luis Miguel Perez at a Motel Seven in North Miami.
Surveillance cameras captured the killing.
Jurors heard from several witnesses, among them, two people who were allegedly shot by Ragan in separate, unrelated shootings.
Kevin Burke testified that he was shot and robbed while riding his bike.
“He said to me, ‘Hey, man, where’s the money at?’ and I turned around to try to get away and I heard a shot. It didn’t hit me,” Burke testified. “Then I heard another shot that hit me, and then it was another shot after that.”
Hai Vu testified to a robbery that happened at his nail salon, where he said Ragan stormed in with another man demanding money from staff and customers.
The two men fired their weapons and Vu was shot in the shoulder. His 10-year-old son, Aaron, was killed.
Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez cautioned jurors that the evidence “has been admitted to show other crimes, wrongs or acts” allegedly committed by Ragan “for the limited purpose of establishing the identity of who may have committed the crime charge here in this case.”
“You should consider it only as it relates to this issue,” she said. “The defendant cannot be convicted for a crime, a wrong act that is not included in the indictment in this case.”
If convicted, Ragan could face a life sentence or the death penalty.