NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in the 2014 death of a rabbi in northeast Miami-Dade County.
The Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed Wednesday morning that DeAndre Charles was taken into custody in connection with the death of Rabbi Joseph Raksin. Charles was arrested in the area of Northwest Sixth Avenue and Northwest 183rd Street.
"We want this vicious thug to be prosecuted to the fullest extent that the law allows," Raksin's daughter, Shuli Labkowski Raksin, said.
Raksin, 60, was shot and killed Aug. 9, 2014 near Northeast 175th Street and Northeast Eighth Court while walking to temple. Raksin was in town from Brooklyn, New York, visiting his family when police believe he was attacked in an attempted robbery.
Miami-Dade County jail records show that Charles faces charges of first-degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon. He is being held without bond.
"The Miami-Dade Police Department and my very fine prosecutors have worked tirelessly to put the evidence and the clues together in order to successfully identify and charge Rabbi Joseph Raksin's killer," Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said at a news conference.
Police received tips for more than a year about the two possible gunmen but did not have enough information to make an arrest. It is unclear what led up to Charles' arrest and if any other arrests are forthcoming, but a sketch drawn by a resident in the area who saw Charles running away may have helped police track him down.
"Sixteen months waiting, every 30 days the community was praying. Today the family can rest," family friend Yona Lunger said.
Charles' family allowed Local 10 News inside their home, showing how authorities ransacked it before arresting Charles. His family claims the Miami Norland High School student is innocent and was at home with his parents and five siblings when the shooting happened.
"They already interrogated him twice and tried to pin it on him, and I don't believe it," his mother, Blair Charles, said.
"He had nothing to do with this at all," Charles' stepfather, Willis Archibald, said. "He was home at the time that this incident happened a year and a half ago. The whole family was home. We tried to tell them that and no one was listening."
People who know the teen told Local 10 News reporter Terrell Forney that Charles is a decent kid who hung out with the wrong crowd.
While officials have not shared too many details about what led to the arrest, they did applaud the rabbi's family for exhibiting bravery and patience during the 16 months it took to make an arrest.
"Today is our third day of our festival of Hanukkah, and the light that my father had will continue to burn brightly with his children and grandchildren and will never be extinguished," Raksin's daughter said.
Charles' family said they have not talked to him since his arrest and are in the process of hiring an attorney. He is expected to make his first court appearance on Thursday.
Charles has a previous juvenile record which includes charges of theft and resisting arrest without violence.