MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A 53-year-old homeless man is facing a murder charge after deputies say he chased down and fatally shot a man in the front yard of a southwest Miami-Dade home.
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The shooting happened just before 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Princeton area.
According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to reports of two men fighting and gunfire at a home in the 11500 block of Southwest 224th Street.
Upon arrival, deputies said they found Jonathan Isaiah Lucas, 28, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in the front yard of the home.
Lucas was airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center, where deputies said he later died despite life-saving efforts.
They said Lucas had left his home to walk to a nearby convenience store on Southwest 112th Avenue.
While there, he reportedly contacted his girlfriend and said Alexander Mills — a man who had recently threatened to kill him — was following him and shooting at him. He told her to call the police, according to an arrest report.
Surveillance video from the store showed a Ford F-150 driving erratically through the parking lot, the report stated.
Deputies said the video captured the driver — later identified as Mills — getting out of the truck, approaching Lucas, and then chasing him. Lucas ran but was shot shortly after, investigators said.
Authorities said they recovered four spent shell casings at the scene. Using license plate readers near the area, they tracked the vehicle back to Mills and located it with him inside, deputies said.
He was taken into custody and brought to MDSO’s Homicide Bureau.
Authorities said Mills spontaneously told investigators he was “waiting for police to find him” and admitted to being the driver of the truck on the day of the shooting.
After being read his Miranda rights, deputies said Mills invoked his right to remain silent.
However, investigators said that after the interview, Mills claimed that he had been in a fight with Lucas and acted in self-defense — a statement they say “contradicts the surveillance footage obtained.”
Jail records show Mills is facing one count of second-degree murder and one count of illegal possession of a firearm, weapon or ammunition by a convicted felon.
As of Friday morning, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond was listed as “to be set.”
A motive for the shooting remains unclear at this time.
