Two Florida men have been charged with murder in the shooting death of a former Army Ranger on Christmas day.
Fernando Duarte, 33, was killed outside Miami’s Miccosukee Resort and Casino on Sunday after playing poker and winning a prize from a slot machine. Prosecutors have charged Kenin Bailey and Mikey Lenard, both 25, of first-degree murder. The suspects claim they acted in self-defense.
“When they exited the parking lot they slowly — their car rolled slowly in a manner which would block the victim from exiting the parking lot,” prosecutors told a Miami judge on Tuesday, a local NBC affiliate reported. “As the victim approaches the defendant’s car, the doors close and the car is put into reverse. There is gunshot fire from the passenger side of the vehicle.”
Duarte, a 12-year veteran with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, was hit three times. He died shortly after at Kendall Regional Hospital.
The station said the killing, along with the chain of events leading up to it, was captured by surveillance cameras.
Police accused Mr. Bailey of being the gunman and said Mr. Lenard sat behind the wheel. Both men are being held without bond.
