Suspect in Ocean Drive murder pleads not guilty as his attorney reviews case

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Tamarius Davis has been held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade County for three weeks. The 22-year-old tourist from Georgia did not appear in front of Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Laura Anne Stuzin during a hearing on Tuesday.

Attorney Juan Mourin, who is representing Davis, filed his plea of not guilty and demands for discovery and trial by jury on Sept. 2. Davis allegedly told Miami Beach police officers he had killed Dustin Wakefield, 21, a Colorado father, on Ocean Drive during a magic mushroom-induced psychosis.

Dustin Wakefield holds his baby boy, Eli, for a family photo in Colorado. (Courtesy photo)

Miami Beach police officers arrested Davis on Aug. 24, minutes after the murder in front of Wakefield’s family at La Cervecería de Barrio, a Mexican restaurant on Ocean Drive.

Court records identifying Davis as Tamarius David show the next hearing is in response to a motion to return his property and is scheduled at 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 21. The pretrial conference is at 9:45 a.m. on Dec. 2, and Stuzin set the first trial hearing for 9:30 a.m., on Dec. 13.

Davis is facing charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder, and child abuse.


About the Author:

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.