A Miami teenager is charged with murdering Miami Senior High School football coach Corey Smith.
Charles Alexander, 15, was taken into custody Thursday afternoon and charged with murdering Smith and taking $7,450 in cash from his home.
Charles, who has a history of mental problems, faces charges of second-degree murder and armed grand theft. He will be charged as an adult, the Miami Herald reported.
The teenager was staying overnight in Smith’s home when he used the coach’s own 9mm handgun to shoot him dead in his den on Monday morning.
Smith’s wife said they hadn’t seen the teen in a year.
“He asked to come over,” said Amina Smith. “Corey picked him up Sunday night and he spent the night. I left to go to work.”
Hours later, police responded to a 911 call of shots fired inside the house on the 2100 block of Northwest 97th Street. Charles told police he was studying when he heard gunshots.
He was interviewed for four hours at the Miami-Dade Police Department and released. Police say he gave “inconsistent statements” about what happened inside the house, and he denied any involvement in the murder.
On Wednesday, his mother called police and said she was “in fear of the defendant,” according to the arrest report obtained by The Herald.
She said Charles confessed to her that he had killed Smith, the report said.
The murder weapon was found in a trash can outside the home. Over $7,000 in cash was also found inside his jeans hidden in a black bag.
A Miami-Dade juvenile circuit judge on Thursday ordered that Charles be held without bail in a juvenile detention center.
