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Cops: Accomplice In Watercraft Theft Charged With Murder

MIAMI SHORES (CBSMiami) – The man suspected of trying to steal a personal watercraft from a Miami Shores homeowner got help from his 19-year-old girlfriend, police said in a report.

Police said Carolina Lopez piloted her boyfriend's personal watercraft with the intention of stealing another one. Now, Lopez is charged with second-degree murder because her boyfriend Reynaldo Munoz was shot and killed during a commission of a felony, police said. Lopez appeared in bond court Monday and was held on no bond.

According to police, Munoz climbed a concrete seawall and gained access to an occupied home Saturday afternoon on the 9200 block of North Bayshore Drive.

A confrontation between someone in the family's home and Munoz soon ensued and led the homeowner to shoot Munoz, police said.

Investigators said a woman and a teenaged boy were at the home when Munoz was spotted on the property, at the dock behind the house. Police said Munoz was apparently trying to steal a personal watercraft, which was in a lift at the home's dock.

Investigators said there was some kind of confrontation between the people in the home and Munoz, which resulted in gunfire. Munoz was shot and killed, and his body fell into the water, where it was recovered by police.

According to the arrest report, the homeowner armed himself to defend his family. But, Detective Roy Rutland told CBS4's Gary Nelson Monday that homicide investigators say the teenaged boy was the only man in the house.

Miami-Dade Homicide detectives are investigating, after Miami Shores police responded to the initial 911 call.

Police have not confirmed the owner of the home or the identities of those people in the house.

The shooting took place at a home which is shown in public records as belonging to Attorney Jeffrey Davis, in the 9700 block of North Bayshore Drive.

Neighbor Randy Troutman said he has no sympathy for the alleged thief who was killed.

"It will teach these criminals to think twice," Troutman said. "He got what was coming to him."

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