A Florida man who fatally shot an armed 16-tear-old robber outside a bank ATM is facing a felony charge because he returned to the scene and started blasting the already dead teen, prosecutors said.
Christopher Luis, 24, was charged in April with aggravated battery with a firearm in the Feb. 13 shootout at a drive-thru ATM at a bank in Kendale Lakes, where three gun-toting suspects tried to rob him, NBC Miami reported.
Surveillance video released Tuesday shows Nimikae Clarke and D’Angelo Davis, 17, approaching Luis’ truck when he opened fire on Nimikae Clarke, striking the teen. Davis and a third suspect, Stanley Al Clark Jr., 19, shot at Luis before running off, WPLG reported.
Luis, who was shot in the hand and bicep, then hopped out of his car and grabbed Clarke’s gun and drove off, only to return minutes later while using the teen’s gun to fire at least 10 more times, video shows.
Luis was on the phone with cops reporting the attempted robbery when he fired the shots, an arrest warrant shows. Clarke was pronounced dead at the scene.
The teen’s autopsy showed that he died from gunshot wounds during the initial shooting and not when Luis returned the second time.
Prosecutors said Luis was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm – a felony – rather than murder because he was legally justified during the first exchange under Florida’s Stand Your Ground laws, CBS Miami reported.
A former prosecutor not connected to the case said Luis was legally justified to respond in force against his assailants.
“He was entitled to meet their force with firearms with the equal amount of force, so he was within his right to stand his ground and use deadly force against the people who were trying to rob him,” attorney David Weinstein told WPLG.
Luis, who was booked into jail on $25,000 bond, is set to appear for a hearing in the case on Thursday. Both Davis and Clark remain held without bond, the station reported.
