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Jaime Ezequiel Robles

Age : 34

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 08/16/2022

Location : Extended Stay America, Room 239, 101 Fairway Drive

City : Miami Springs

County : Miami-Dade

State : Florida

Agency : Miami-Dade Police Department

Officer(s) :Anthony Jimenez

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police during execution of hotel-room search warrant

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/16/2022, Miami-Dade Police Department's Special Response Team entered Room 239 of the Extended Stay America at 101 Fairway Drive in Miami Springs to execute a search warrant connected to an armed robbery investigation. Jaime Ezequiel Robles, 34, was staying in the room with his girlfriend, her teenage son and two small children. The warrant followed an armed robbery the previous day at the 911 Food Store in Dania Beach. Investigators had connected a white Hyundai Sonata registered to Robles to that robbery.
Jeremy Willie Horton had been driving Robles' Hyundai when Miami-Dade police attempted to stop him later on 08/15/2022. Horton continued driving away while police pursued, crashed, fled on foot, and subsequently exchanged gunfire with police. Miami-Dade Detective Cesar Echaverry was fatally shot during that encounter, and police killed Horton. Ballistics later linked the bullet that killed Echaverry to Horton's handgun. Robles was not present during the encounter in which Echaverry was shot.
Police returned to the Extended Stay America the following day while investigating the earlier robbery. Robles' fiancée told reporters that she and Robles had met Horton approximately one week earlier and that Robles had loaned Horton the Hyundai, after which Horton failed to return it. She said they believed Horton had stolen the vehicle. Investigators obtained a warrant to search Room 239 for evidence connected to the Dania Beach robbery. Subsequent cellphone evidence reportedly placed Robles' phone in the area of the convenience store at the time of the robbery, but that evidence was obtained after Robles was killed.
Before the raid, police detained Robles' fiancée and her teenage son after they left the room. Officers therefore knew that two small children remained inside with Robles and knew that an AK-47-style rifle was reportedly in the room. Robles' fiancée said a Broward detective discussed having her telephone Robles and persuade him to come outside. She agreed, but police did not use that approach. Instead, Miami-Dade's Special Response Team was deployed for a forced entry.
Body-camera footage subsequently obtained and released by NBC6 showed the SRT initially attempting to open the hotel-room door with a key. A security latch prevented entry, and officers then broke through the door with a hammer. The footage shows officers announcing the search warrant after breaking through the door and entering. Flash-bang devices were detonated as the tactical team entered the room.
Special Response Team Officer Anthony Jimenez entered first carrying a ballistic shield and handgun. Robles was naked in the bathroom, apparently having just showered. Body-camera footage shows Robles through the viewing window of Jimenez's shield with both hands raised. Jimenez's shield periodically obstructed the camera's view. Jimenez fired repeatedly at Robles. After Robles fell to the bathroom floor, Jimenez again ordered him to show his hands and fired additional rounds. One of the children can be seen reflected in Jimenez's shield as another officer carried the child from the room, while the children can be heard screaming.
Jimenez fired a total of 16 rounds, striking Robles multiple times in the head, neck, chest and other areas of his body. The later prosecutor review reported wounds including strikes to Robles' heart and genitals. Robles died at the scene. Police gunfire also penetrated portions of the hotel structure and entered at least one neighboring occupied room.
An AK-47-style rifle loaded with 29 live rounds was on the bathroom vanity near Robles. Although Miami-Dade Police initially announced that officers had confronted an individual who was "armed" with an AK-47-style rifle, subsequent investigative records and the Miami-Dade State Attorney's review established that Robles was not holding the rifle when Jimenez shot him. Body-camera footage does not show Robles holding the weapon. Robles' fiancée's teenage son told FDLE investigators that Horton had brought the rifle into the hotel room and that Robles had complained about it being there because children were present.
The footage also recorded Jimenez immediately after the shooting saying that Robles had moved his hands and that he was not sure whether Robles had anything in them. The footage therefore provided significant additional information unavailable in the original public police account.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated the shooting and completed its investigation in 2023. Jimenez exercised his right not to provide investigators with a statement explaining why he fired. The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office subsequently reviewed the FDLE investigation through a seven-prosecutor panel.
In a closeout memorandum signed by Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle on 12/19/2023, prosecutors declined to charge Jimenez. Importantly, prosecutors did not find that the shooting was legally justified. They concluded that because Jimenez declined to explain what he perceived immediately before firing and portions of the body-camera view were obstructed by his shield, there was insufficient evidence to determine that the shooting was legally justified and also insufficient evidence to prove a criminal charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Robles shooting was Jimenez's third fatal police shooting since 2018. Jimenez had previously participated in the fatal 2018 shooting of Leonardo Cano. Cano had earlier exchanged gunfire with officers and was later found hiding in a dumpster. Jimenez entered the dumpster, and he and other officers fired. Medical Examiner Emma Lew documented facial bruising consistent with boot marks and consistent with Jimenez's boots, although she determined those injuries did not contribute to Cano's death. A handgun officers said had been near Cano was subsequently found approximately four feet outside the dumpster. Jimenez and the other firing officers declined to provide statements, and prosecutors declined charges but did not determine that the shooting was legally justified.
Jimenez also fatally shot Kesner Liberal in November 2020 during another Miami-Dade Special Response Team operation. Police had responded after Liberal's mother reported that he threatened his younger brother. After hours of attempts to get Liberal out of the house, SRT deployed gas and entered. Jimenez again entered first carrying a ballistic shield and fired four rounds, striking Liberal in the head and neck. Other officers were unable to see what occurred immediately before Jimenez fired. A handgun was subsequently reported beneath Liberal's hand and was moved by an officer after the shooting. Jimenez again declined to provide a statement. Prosecutors declined charges but again stopped short of determining that Jimenez's use of deadly force was legally justified.
In April 2024, NBC6 Investigators published the body-camera footage and investigative records from Robles' killing. The footage showed Robles with his hands raised as the tactical team entered and showed Jimenez continuing to fire after Robles had fallen. NBC6 reported that Jimenez remained employed and on duty with Miami-Dade Police and that the department said an internal investigation into the shooting remained ongoing at that time.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://news.yahoo.com/questions-linger-police-shooting-hotel-083000537.html
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article265257691.html
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article264594651.html
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article283880558.html
https://www.nbcmiami.com/investigations/bodycam-video-raises-questions-about-police-raid-inside-hotel-room-in-miami-springs/3296324/
https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-dade-officer-cleared-in-fatal-shooting-of-jaime-robles-18616985
https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miami-dade-officer-not-charged-in-shooting-of-kesner-liberal-12301738/