NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A little more than a year after police said a gunman fatally shot a South Florida smoke shop owner in the back during a group robbery, authorities took the suspected shooter into custody.
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Investigators said Tarvan Bowens Jr. was 17 when he opened fire at Miami Cloudz, shooting 35-year-old Salem Albakri in the back as he ran away on June 11, 2024.
Albakri had recently opened the store, located at 2063 NE 163rd St. in North Miami Beach, to support himself and his wife.
According to investigators, Bowens and three other men, one of whom was identified as 23-year-old William Robinson, came into the store and asked Albakri to see “several pieces of merchandise.”
Surveillance video showed Bowens shooting Albakri, police said.
Police said Bowens, of northwest Miami-Dade, was identified through facial recognition software and numerous tips ― including one from one of his family members.
Authorities said Robinson, of Miami, was identified through similar means, as well as through fingerprints. Police arrested him last August.
Police said Bowens and Robinson were also both arrested in December 2023 on a burglary charge in Plantation.
As of Friday, Bowens, now 18, was being held without bond in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery.
Robinson, now 24, also remained jailed without bond on an armed robbery charge.
Police haven’t said whether they’ve identified the other two suspects.