MIAMI – Three teenagers appeared in court Thursday morning, where they learned that they would be charged as adults in connection with the robbery and killing of a man in his northwest Miami-Dade County home.
The shooting was reported on the afternoon of Jan. 3 at the Silver Blue Lake Apartments near Northwest 103rd Street and Northwest 14th Avenue.
When police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel arrived at the scene, they found Tony Conway, 49, dead.
Police arrested two 16-year-old girls, Dashera Davis and Shawntera Jackson and Travis Charlite, 17, on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery.
"She essentially -- and I believe her -- indicates that she is not involved with it," Jackson's attorney, Scott Kotler, said.
"He professes his innocence," Charlite's attorney, Jordan Lewin, added. "We are hoping through the discovery process will show the state of Florida that mistakes are being made, that assumptions are being made (and) that the evidence will show that he did not participate in any robbery or in any fatality -- that he was not involved in any homicide."
Detective Lee Cowart said the teens broke into Conway's apartment while he was away.
"Once he entered his apartment, he was robbed and shot in the stomach," Cowart said.
Conway ran out of his apartment and collapsed in the common area of the apartment complex, Cowart said.
Lewin questioned Conway's character, saying he often had young people inside his home for "all the wrong reasons."
"There is a question regarding the behavior and the lifestyle the decedent was living -- whether or not he solicited young people, young girls to his dwelling space for all the wrong reasons," Lewin said.
The teens are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges in court on Monday.