Pikerson Mentor (left) and Saubnet Politasse. (Source: Miami-Dade Corrections)
NORTH MIAMI CBS4) –Two men were charged with robbery homicide in the case of a South Florida postal worker who was killed on the job last December.
CBS4′s David Sutta spotted two names on the afternoon docket in federal magistrate court: Saubnet Politasse and Pikerson Mentor, both of whom had been charged with commission of murder during a robbery and possession of a firearm. The charging agency was the U.S. Postal Service.
Bruce Parton was just weeks away from retirement when he was shot and killed while on his daily mail route on December 6th, 2010. He was delivering the holiday mail at the Monte Carlo condominiums in the area of 486 NW 165th Street Road in Northwest Miami-Dade when he was killed. The gunman then stole his mail truck, drove a short distance, abandoned it and ran away.
“He was such a wonderful man. Loving. Everyone who knew him just loved him,” said his daughter Nina, a week after her father’s murder. She said her father was a devoted Dad, a loving grandfather to her two children and a dedicated postal worker one month shy of his retirement. Parton had been with the postal service for nearly 30 years.
“He wasn’t doing nothing but filling mailboxes,” said Monte Carlo resident Justin Wilcox. “It wasn’t like he’s bothering anybody. Doing his every day job and now he’s gone.”
Witness said they heard as many as five shots.
Prosecutors said the shooting was an attempt to obtain Parton’s keys to the mailbox so both Politasse and Mentor could commit mail and ID fraud.
Police caught up with both men Wednesday night and found Parton’s mail key. During questioning Politasse allegedly confessed.
Politasse’s family is attempting to get an attorney for him. He will have another hearing at 10 a.m. on Friday, but will have a pretrial hearing on Tuesday. Politasse, who is unemployed, will have an arraignment on May 19, according to the court docket.
Pikerson, who is a custom window tinter is set to appear in court on Tuesday at 10 a.m. His arraignment is also set for May 19.
Both suspects have been in and out of the state prison system. Politasse has served time for burglary, grand theft, and fleeing police; Mentor has served time for robbery with a deadly weapon.
There is a $100,000 reward being offered in the case.
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