A high school football coach, 46, was shot in his home with his own gun by his nephew, who reportedly has a mental condition.
15-year-old Charles Alexander has been charged with second-degree murder and armed grand theft after he fatally shot Corey Smith, a high school football coach.
According to Miami Herald, prosecutors plan to charge the teen as an adult.
Alexander was staying over at his uncle’s home when he used Smith’s 9mm Beretta handgun and shot the football coach, police reported.
The teen was the only person at the home in West Little River when the shooting occurred. He reportedly admitted to shooting his uncle while having a conversation with his mother.
Officers also discovered over $7,000 in cash belonging to Smith inside Alexander’s bag.
A judge ordered Alexander to be held in secure detention.
The teen is the son of 41-year-old Lamar Alexander, the convicted felon who was fatally shot after carjacking a UPS truck last year.
Lamar Alexander and another ex-con, 41-year-old Ronnie Jerome, were killed.
The UPS driver they attacked and another driver in the scene were also killed. The whole incident was caught on CCTV.
Lamar Alexander and Corey Smith were cousins and they grew up together. Alexander’s son, 15-year-old Charles, is Smith’s nephew.
Smith said of Lamar the day after the incident last year: “In life, you gotta make better decisions. We weren’t raised like that. I love my brother, but he’s been making bad decisions his whole life.”
Relatives said to Miami Herald that the football coach had not seen his nephew since Alexander was killed.
Smith’s wife, Amina, said: “He asked to come over. We hadn’t seen him since his dad passed away. Corey picked him up Sunday night and he spent the night. I left to go to work.”
Neighbors heard three gunshots and police were called to the home.
Investigators found the 15-year-old and after being interviewed by Miami-Dade Police Department, he was allowed to go home.
Days later, Alexander’s mother reached out to police and said that her child ‘confessed to her that he had killed his uncle.’
The teen’s case stalled because of his mental health conditions. His attorney, Rod Vereen, said to The Herald: “There are many juveniles who also suffer from early childhood trauma, learning deficiencies, and mental illness and the criminal justice system, can no longer afford to allow them to fall through the cracks.
“If the allegations are proven true, that my client committed this unfortunate crime, then here’s a prime example of the system failing this child. Should he have been involuntary committed over the past couple of years, so he would not have been a danger to the community?
“Coach Smith would still be alive today, right? If the facts are true, who failed whom?”
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