Crime victim counting on ‘Stand Your Ground’ defense faces felony charge in disarmed teen’s shooting death

Man who foiled attempted robbery at Kendale Lakes BB&T Bank ends up being arrested

KENDALE LAKES, Fla. – Christopher Luis defended himself from three armed robbers in February in Miami-Dade County. He suffered gunshot wounds to his left bicep and right hand and doctors treated him at the Kendall Regional Medical Center, police said.

Surveillance videos show Luis shot a gun-wielding 16-year-old boy, disarmed him, and returned to fatally shoot him as he bled on the ground on Feb. 13 in Kendale Lakes, police said. Prosecutors cleared Luis of murder and manslaughter charges and charged him with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.

Attorney David Weinstein, a partner in the litigation practice group at Jones Walker in Miami, saw the surveillance videos the Miami-Dade Police Department released Tuesday in Luis’ case The Miami-Dade Police Department released two videos Tuesday showing Christopher Luis’ actions on Feb. 13.

“He was entitled to meet their force with firearms with the equal amount of force, so he was within his right to stand his ground and use deadly force against the people who were trying to rob him,” said Weinstein, who served as both a federal and state prosecutor and who is not related to Luis’ case.

After reviewing the evidence, detectives found Luis was involved in two shootings at a drive-thru ATM outside of a BB&T Bank. The second shooting changed the nature of the case for both detectives and prosecutors.

The 1st shooting: Gunfire exchange

Video shows Nimikae Clarke, 16, and D’Angelo Davis, then 17, jump a wall and walk to sneak up on Christopher Luis to ambush him at the drive-through ATM. Davis approached the passenger-side window and Clarke approached the driver-side window. (Surveillance video screen grab)

Luis was wearing a black and white “Gun Club” shirt with two large firearm icons. He was driving a white Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. And when he saw the armed robbers’ reflection on his rearview mirrors, his gun was within reach.

Surveillance video from the bank at Southwest 137th Avenue and Southwest 88th Street shows Nimikae Clarke, 16, walking close to Luis’s driver’s side window, police said. Detectives identified the attempted armed robbery suspect close to the passenger’s side window as D’Angelo Davis, then 17.

Another video shows Luis moved quickly to defend himself.

Stanely Al Clark Jr., then 18, was hiding behind a nearby wall that divides the bank from the street, records show. Detectives said Clark and D’Angelo shot at Luis and ran away. Nimikae fell near the ATM bleeding. Luis jumped out of the car, took Nimikae’s gun, and he drove away, police said.

The 2nd shooting: Disarmed teen dies

Christopher Luis returned to the crime scene to shot at a teenage boy again on Feb. 13, in Kendale Lakes. (Surveillance video screen grab)

The videos from the bank’s surveillance cameras show Luis returned to the bank’s drive-thru area about four minutes later after foiling the attempted robbery, police said. Without getting out of his truck, he used Nimikae’s gun to shoot him again, police said.

“[Luis] drove into the drive-thru ATM lane again, without stopping, and observed [Nimikae] as he remained incapacitated on the ground. [Nimikae’s] hands were visible, and he was not in possession of any weapon. [Nimikae] was alive,” Detective Zubair Khan said, according to the arrest warrant.

As Luis fired the weapon at least 10 more times, he was on the phone reporting he was being shot at by assailants, according to the arrest warrant.

Nimikae Clarke, 16, died Feb. 13 outside of a BB&T bank in Miami-Dade County's Kendale Lakes.

Officers found the teenage boy dead and released a flyer on Feb. 17 asking the public for information on the fatal shooting.

Nimikae had just been reunited with his mother after spending nearly two years in a juvenile correctional facility. Members of the Circle of Brotherhood, a Miami non-profit organization, met him after his release.

“I appreciate them for coming to get me and I’m trying to get a job so I can take care of my momma,” Nimikae said in a video that the Circle of Brotherhood shared on social media. “I want to be a firefighter.”

Nimikae needed the mentorship. He left behind a trail of photos on social media showing he was exposed to guns and marijuana as a little boy growing up in south Miami-Dade.

Criminal charges: 3 arrested

Officers arrested Clark on Feb. 24, Davis on June 14, and Luis on April 22.

Luis has a hearing scheduled in the aggravated battery with a deadly weapon case on Aug. 12, according to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.

Christopher Luis was arrested in April over a February shooting in Kendale Lakes. The case was later dropped. (MDCR)

Davis, now 18, and Clark, now 19, are both facing charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder with a firearm, and attempted robbery with a firearm.

Detectives working on a narcotics investigation on June 14 in Miami-Dade’s Perrine neighborhood ran into Davis, who was armed with a stolen black Glock 43X, according to the arrest form. Prosecutors filed a second case against him on June 15, so Davis is also facing two felony charges of illegally carrying a concealed firearm and third-degree grand theft.

Davis and Clark are both being held without bond. Miami Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation records show Clark is not being held in a Miami-Dade facility and Davis is at the Metrowest Detention Center in Doral.

RELATED CONTENT

The initial flyer in the case

The Miami-Dade Police Department first released this flyer in connection to the Feb. 13 shooting in Kendale Lakes. (MDPD)

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Arrest affidavit in Luis’s case

Arrest warrant in Luis’s case

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Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Guadalupe Monarrez and Assignment Desk Manager Alissa Merlo contributed to this report.


About the Authors:

Annaliese Garcia joined Local 10 News in January 2020. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism. She began her career at Univision. Before arriving at Local 10, she was with NBC2 (WBBH-TV) covering Southwest Florida. She's glad to be back in Miami!

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.