FLORIDA CITY, Fla. – After he surrendered, Patrick Smith told police officers that he had shot a 25-year-old man in self-defense, but detectives said video surveillance of the murder in Florida City showed he wasn’t telling the whole story.
Detectives reported the video shows Martavis Cannon “had his hands up” when Smith, 28, fired his gun —killing Cannon, according to officers familiar with the case.
“Defendant and victim are known to each other,” Detective Yamani Oceguera wrote in her report.
The murder was inside a public Miami-Dade transit bus. Fire rescue personnel declared Cannon dead on Saturday in the back of the bus along the Busway’s northbound lanes. He was 25.
The video showed Smith getting onto the bus at 344 Street, and Cannon at Southwest 328 Street, according to police. They both sat in the back. Smith was on the right and Cannon was on the left.
Surveillance video shows Smith pulling the gun out of his backpack, according to police.
“Moments later, the defendant stood up while holding a firearm in his hand,” Oceguera wrote in her report.
Cannon “quickly lunged at” Smith, and there was a struggle, but Cannon was able to get away.
“While the victim had his hands up, and without any provocation, the defendant discharged the firearm in the direction of the victim several times, striking him in the chest, abdomen, and both arms,” Oceguera wrote in her report.
On Saturday, Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, said there were 10 passengers on the bus when an argument turned into a fight.
Witnesses told police the bus driver stopped, opened the doors, and asked everyone to get out of the bus. Detectives reported there were 14 spend casings and a Diamondback, AM2, semi-automatic pistol.
“The subject then fled the scene on foot,” Zabaleta said. “The Florida City Police Department later advised that the subject had come into the police station and surrendered himself.”
After detectives arrested Smith, correctional officers booked him shortly after 11:20 p.m. on Saturday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center where he remained on Sunday, records show.
Smith was facing a charge of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon.
Detectives were asking anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
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