Lukace Kendle was working as a security guard at Club Lexx on NW 27th Avenue, just east of Miami Dade Community college, when he encountered two black men sitting in a car outside the club.

Kendle, 26, was licensed to carry a handgun. He later told Miami Dade police he felt “threatened” when he drew his weapon and unloaded it into the 2 men.

Kijuan Byrd, a 29-year-old electrician with 2 small children, died of 11 gunshot wounds. Michael Smathers, 31, was shot four times. He survived his injuries but he remains in critical condition at Jackson hospital’s Ryder Trauma center.

Kendle, the guard who shot the 2 unarmed strip club patrons on June 1, remained free for a week thanks to the controversial Florida law ‘Stand Your Ground’.

Kendle is a white Hispanic. His victims are black.

“He’s my baby, my young son,” said Kijuan’s father Donald Byrd. “He was shot twice in the back. He was going to try to get away.” Mr. Byrd, who suffered a heart attack at his son’s funeral, attended a rally outside the strip club with his attorney, Benjamim Crump.

“Kijuan is my only child and now he’s gone, he’s gone. My baby is dead, and it’s senseless,” said Arleen Byrd. “I don’t understand why, and I don’t know what I’m going to tell my grand babies when they say to me, ‘Grandma, where’s my daddy?’ I don’t know what I’m going to say. My son is gone, and I’m angry.”

Mr. Crump also represents the parents of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, another victim of a senseless law that was designed to give non-blacks a good excuse to kill black men.

“Again we are here with another stand your ground claim and another unarmed black man shot and killed and nobody arrested,” said attorney Benjamin Crump.

That was then… Before the public outrage and the the nationwide media scrutiny.

Kendle was arrested Friday and charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder, according to the Miami Herald. He is being held without bond.

Trayvon’s killer, George Zimmerman, is also in a Florida jail without bond on a second degree murder charge.

Kijuan’s death has taken a heavy toll on the Byrd family, said attorney Benjamin Crump.


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  • Ben Crump wants Zimmerman’s bond revoked
  • Did Trayvon Martin Call 911 Before He Was Shot?