Man Who Dodged Murder Charge In Party Shooting Dies In Hail Of Bullets
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A man who narrowly escaped a murder rap after a deadly shooting at a Miami graduation party nearly a decade ago died over the weekend in a hail of gunfire on I-95.
Early Saturday morning 23-year old Labron Brown, who police believe was the gunman in the 2007 shooting, was found bleeding to death next to a bullet ridden car just north of NW 54th Street, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald. A second man was found dead in the passenger seat.
A fatally injured Brown was taken to the hospital where he died about an hour later.
While police have not confirmed the names of the men who died, the Miami Herald reports one has been identified as Brown who dodged a murder trial after the state's witnesses recanted testimony in fear of retaliation.
On June 18th, 2007, they claimed he was one of four people who entered the Polish-American Hall on NW 22nd Avenue around 1 a.m. Some of the 300 or so in attendance at the party told police, all four wore bandanas and some had guns. They started fighting with several of the grads and then shots rang out.
Four people were injured in the shooting, including a pregnant woman. Two people, 16-year old Samuel Brown and 20-year old Michael Bradshaw, were killed.
Prosecutors worked for more than a year and a half to make their case against Brown, who had been charged with second degree murder. It fell apart when those at the party refused to testify and key witness Kenneth Joe Edwards, who initially told police he witnessed Brown shooting at people, recanted and claimed he was coerced into blaming Brown.
With no case to go on, the state was forced to drop all charges against Brown.
CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed to this report.
