FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — More than five years after a murder, Derrick Jules stood in Broward County court on Saturday to face charges that his alleged accomplice was also facing for the fatal shooting of a 32-year-old man in Pompano Beach.
Jules, now 32, stood before Broward County Circuit Judge Florence Taylor Barner, who ordered that he be held behind bars without bond and stay away from firearms if he is released.
“Sir, you are charged with one count of murder premeditated and one count of robbery with a firearm,” Barner told Jules in court about the first-degree felony case.
Jules was 26 when Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies and Pompano Beach Fire Rescue personnel found Clarens Calixte wounded shortly after 3:05 a.m., on Dec. 20, 2019, at 327 SW Second Ave.
Calixte died at the Broward Health North Hospital in Pompano Beach.
“Detectives identified the suspects through extensive investigative work, piecing together evidence that ultimately led to the grand jury indictments,” Miranda Grossman, a BSO spokeswoman, wrote in a statement released on Saturday.
Broward prosecutors filed cases against Jules and Benson Blaise for the murder on Aug. 14 and filed the grand jury indictments. Grand Jury Judge Peter Holden ordered it sealed, records show.
Blaise, 32, a convicted felon who was last released from a Florida prison on April 28, 2023, also faced charges of first-degree murder with a firearm and robbery with a firearm. He had already been booked for another case on May 15, 2024.
Deputies re-arrested Blaise for Calixte’s murder on Aug. 18, and his arraignment was on Aug. 19. Corrections was holding Blaise without bond when BSO detectives found Jules in the Tampa area.
Deputies arrested Jules with the help of the U.S. Marshals Service on Wednesday. Jules’s record includes a conviction for a 2020 grand theft and aggravated assault with a firearm in Deerfield Beach. He was on probation until Nov. 8, 2026, records show.
BSO correctional deputies booked Jules on Friday at the Broward County Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale, records show. Records show Broward County Circuit Judge Michael Allen Usan is set to preside over both cases.
Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477 to remain anonymous.
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