Man's Decomposed Body Found in Canal, Police Suspect Murder

In today's roundup of horrible crimes and other assorted sins, a shooting victim is left paralyzed, a man dies while in the custody of the Miami Beach Police, an SUV somehow lands directly atop a Honda, Vanhouston D. Flowers is found floating dead in a canal, and a man pleads...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

July 1, 2010

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "19274298",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17482312",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18711090",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17482310",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18711090",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17482313",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

In today's roundup of horrible crimes and other assorted sins, a shooting victim is left paralyzed, a man dies while in the custody of the Miami Beach Police, an SUV somehow lands directly atop a Honda, Vanhouston D. Flowers is found floating dead in a canal, and a man pleads guilty to murdering his brother and nephew. Click through for all the travesty.

The body of Vanhouston D. Flowers was found floating in a canal in Northwest Miami-Dade on Tuesday. It was spotted Tuesday morning near NW 58th Street and 72nd Avenue by an employee at a nearby warehouse.

The body was so badly decomposed that investigators don't know how long it had been in the water. However, they did identify it as Flowers and that it had suffered blunt-force trauma. So they are treating his death as a homicide.

Flowers was last seen alive in the early hours of June 26.

The Homestead man who arrived home earlier this week to find a burglar in his house and then was shot is now paralyzed. He had recently moved to Homestead from New Jersey to start a new life. Two teenagers and a 21-year-old have been arrested in connection with the crime. [CBS4]
Two years ago, Jacques Paul, an illegal immigrant from Haiti, used his brother's name to obtain a driver's license in New York. This led to an argument between the two brothers, and Paul ended up fatally shooting not only his brother but also his nephew. The two men had both worked at the Fontainebleau. He has now plead guilty to the crimes in court. [Herald]
An SUV somehow landed atop a Honda in an I-95 median near Palm Beach this morning. Three people were taken to the hospital, but none had life-threatening injuries. [Herald]
Miami Beach Police pulled over a white Nissan Maxima yesterday in Normandy Isles and took many of the passengers into custody. One of the men died while in custody. Police haven't released a name, cause of death, or why he was taken into custody. [CBS4]
There was a shooting at a laundromat in Northwest Miami-Dade. This is why we never try to take up too many dryers at the same time. [WSVN]

KEEP NEW TIMES FREE... Since we started New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Miami, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.