MIAMI – Two brothers accused of murdering a man they thought stole their mother's gun went before a judge for their arraignment Monday morning.
The brothers, Benjamin Curry, 16, and Nathan Curry, 15, are being held in jail on no bond on first-degree murder charges.
According to police, Benjamin and Nathan shot Lonnie Reese, 24, in September because they falsely believed Reese stole their mother's AK-47 from her car.
The shooting happened about noon on the corner of Northwest 46th Street and 29th Avenue in Northwest Miami-Dade as Reese was walking home from the store.
Reese was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died on Oct. 5 on his 24th birthday.
"He was falsely accused and it seems like they tracked him down -- they followed him," said Linda Johnson, Reese's aunt.
"He walked away and the oldest boy told the baby boy to shoot him," said Vanessa Davis, the victim's grandmother.
Reese lived with his grandma in the same apartment building as the Curry brothers. Prosecutors said the brothers were hunting Reese down after they thought he stole the gun from their mother's car in the apartment parking lot.
Davis said her grandson knew the teens were after him, and so did neighbors who witnessed the shooting and identified the brothers to police.
The Currys' eldest brother, Christopher, 18, is also in jail awaiting trial on murder charges in an unrelated case.
In that instance, Mira Smith, 21, was shot and killed near Southwest 173rd Terrace and 102nd Avenue on Aug. 10 2013. Michael Baker, Smith's brother, said they were outside when a group of men began shooting at them.
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