For more than a year pending a state investigation, police have put off answering key questions about the 2022 fatal shooting of Jaime Robles, whose vehicle was used as a getaway car in a corner store holdup before one of the robbers gunned down Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) detective Cesar Echaverry in a Northside shootout.
A state attorney's memo obtained by New Times now reveals details of the operation in which MDPD's Special Response Team bashed in Robles' door with a sledgehammer at the Extended Stay America hotel in Miami Springs and then shot him dead while he was standing naked next to an AK-47 inside the bathroom. Robles' children, who were 2 and 4 years old, were whisked away from the scene by police while Robles was lying on the floor.
The 16-page memo, signed by Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle on December 19, clarifies that Robles was not holding the gun when officer Anthony Jimenez opened fire during the raid. Police had previously said in a press release that Robles was "armed" with a rifle.
Though Robles was not involved in the police shootout a day prior to the raid, the tactical unit had been briefed that he likely participated in the robbery. The memo offers no details on whether investigators have since confirmed (or attempted to confirm) that Robles was part of the robbery.
The state attorney’s office stressed that it was unable to gather critical information about the moments leading up to Robles' death because Jimenez declined to provide a statement. Flash bang grenades, steam from the bathroom shower, and a ballistic shield held by Jimenez made his body-worn camera footage all but useless to determine whether the shooting was justified, according to the memo.
Prosecutors nonetheless made it clear that they won't be taking action against Jimenez over the incident — Jimenez's third fatal shooting in the line of duty since 2018.
"After a review of the case, without a statement from Jimenez detailing what was in his mind before the shooting, we cannot speculate further on his actual knowledge or intent in firing his weapon," the memo (attached at the bottom of this story) reads. "Therefore, there is insufficient evidence to make a clear determination that the shooting was legally justified."
Police officers salute as a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue truck carries the remains of Miami-Dade Detective Cesar Echaverry on August 19, 2022, in Miami.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
On August 15, 2022, detectives were investigating an armed robbery at a Dania Beach convenience store by two masked men, one of whom was later identified as Jeremy Willie Horton. The clerk said the perpetrators were armed with a handgun and a rifle. The men drove away in a white Hyundai Sonata that belonged to Robles.
Later that day, police tracked the Hyundai to the Extended Stay America hotel and followed Horton, who by that time was alone in the car. When they tried to pull him over in the Miami community of Northside, he led them on a chase during which he allegedly smashed into police cars and civilian vehicles. He crashed into a pole and fled on foot, exchanging gunfire with police.
Detective Echaverry and Horton were fatally wounded in the shootout. The detective was the first Miami-Dade Police officer killed by a suspect in the line of duty since 2011.
Police returned to the hotel the following day to continue their investigation and learned that Horton had visited Robles, who was staying there with his two children, girlfriend, and her teenage son. Investigators learned that "a case the shape of an assault rifle" sat inside Robles' hotel room, according to the memo.
After officers stopped Robles' girlfriend in the hallway of the hotel and took her aside for questioning, a detective reportedly proposed the idea of calling Robles.
"I said yes. I kept telling them he's not dangerous. Why didn't they give me the opportunity to do so?" she told the Miami Herald following the raid. "Later, they told me they had him in custody. I’m thinking Jaime is safe. I didn’t know Jaime was dead until like 10 hours later."
According to the memo, police urgently obtained a search warrant and called in MDPD's Special Response Team, a heavy tactical unit that specializes in responding to dangerous situations and high-risk warrants.BREAKING: girlfriend of 2nd suspect identifies him as 34yr old Jaime Robles. @nbc6 https://t.co/a5gjDpugPd pic.twitter.com/1mpMBPfnDz
— Heather Walker (@_HeatherWalker) August 17, 2022
With a single file line of officers following behind him, Jimenez burst into the room carrying a ballistic shield and his Glock pistol "ready to fire" before confronting Robles, who stood naked in the steamy hotel bathroom, with a loaded AK-47 rifle in plain view on the counter, according to the memo. Jimenez then fired multiple times at Robles — calling out "let me see your hands" as he fired his weapon, which he continued to do as Robles lay on the floor.
Robles' children were in the main area of the hotel room when police swarmed in.
Jimenez has shot and killed two other people during police operations since 2018, both of whom were armed, the Herald reported. One involved a kidnapping suspect who had opened fire at police and was shot by Jimenez while hiding in a dumpster. The other incident, detailed in a 2020 New Times report, occurred during a Special Response Team operation targeting a man who had been reported to police for mental health problems and allegedly threatening his brother.
As with the investigation into Robles' fatal shooting, Jimenez declined to talk with investigators about what happened during those incidents.
As a result, prosecutors could not determine whether the killings were justifiable, and the state attorney's office closed the cases, declining to file charges against Jimenez.
