DeSantis appoints Haitian-American woman to Eleventh Judicial Circuit
MIAMI – Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Miami-Dade County Judge Lody Jean to replace Eleventh Judicial Circuit Judge John Schlesinger, who resigned earlier this year. Rick Scott appointed Jean, a former Assistant State Attorney and Felony Division Chief in Miami-Dade County, to the Miami-Dade County Court in 2018. She was the first Haitian-American woman to be appointed on the Miami-Dade County Court and is the first Haitian American to be appointed to the Eleventh Circuit Court. Jean, who was born in Haiti to Lebanese parents, earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami and her law degree from St. Thomas University School of Law.
Rickenbacker Causeway shooter appears in court for cyclist's murder
Piedrahita was riding a motorcycle when he was following Alex Palencia, 48, who was cycling with a group on the William Powell Bridge on the Rickenbacker Causeway. Detectives said Piedrahita, who was on Facebook Live as he followed the Don Pan cycling group, fatally shot Palencia on Wednesday morning in the stomach during a scuffle. "I lost my dad, the most important man in my life, without the chance to say goodbye," Palencia's daughter, Alice Palencia, wrote on Instagram. Piedrahita, whose son is a member of the Don Pan cycling group, made a threat in a video on Facebook. "I can genuinely say that this is the worst pain my heart has ever felt in my life," Alice Palencia wrote.