LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Miami High football coach shot, killed by 'nephew' who stole over $7000

 

By Peter Aitken

 

Fox News

September 27, 2020

 

A 15-year-old Florida teen has been arrested and charged with the murder of a Miami high school football coach, whom he was related to, and stealing over $7,000 from his home, according to multiple reports. 

Charles Alexander faces charges of second-degree murder and armed grand theft, and will eventually be charged as an adult, the Miami Herald reported. 

An arrest report released on Friday states that investigators believe Alexander was staying with Miami High coach Corey Smith, and used the coach’s own 9mm handgun to shoot him inside a den.

Units responded to reports of a person shot inside a residence, and responders pronounced Smith dead at the scene. Alexander reportedly claimed he was in the bathroom at the time of the shooting and had found Smith’s body, CBS Miami reported. 

Investigators said Alexander provided inconsistent statements during questioning. A search of the house uncovered “six FC 9mm Luger spent shell casings and additional firearms evidence. Also, a large sum of U.S. currency was discovered, bundled with rubber bands and concealed among the defendant’s personal belongings.”  

A Beretta belonging to Smith was found in a garbage can on the side of the house, and ballistics confirmed the spent shell casings were fired from the gun. The recovered sum of money totaled $7,450.

Alexander’s mother called the police on Wednesday to say that her son had confessed to her that he had killed Smith. Police arrested Alexander the following day, with a judge ordering that Alexander be held in secure detention.

Charles is the son of Lamar Alexander, an ex-con who hijacked a UPS driver in November, led police on a high-speed chase and died during a televised shootout on a South Florida street.

Lamar Alexander and Smith were cousins, but they were raised as brothers and Smith considered Charles Alexander to be his nephew. 

“He asked to come over,” Amina Smith, the coach’s wife, told the newspaper. “We hadn’t seen him since his dad passed. Corey picked him up Sunday night and he spent the night. I left to go to work.”

During a hearing Friday morning, an attorney for Alexander told the judge his client was found incompetent four different times in the past two years. The attorney asked that he be given a psychological evaluation.

“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,” Ron Vereen, defense lawyer for Alexander, said.

“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.”