A 21-year-old father was shot and killed in Miami Beach, Florida, while protecting his 1-year-old son from a gunman who was allegedly high on mushrooms, local news station WSVN reported.
Dustin Wakefield was eating at La Cerveceria café with his family on Tuesday when he was shot multiple times, including in the head, according to the police report obtained by WSVN.
“There was a guy sitting at a table with all his family and kids and everything,” a witness told WSVN. “He was right there, and the guy went there and shot the guy a few times.”
Wakefield was visiting Florida from Colorado, the local news station reported. “He pointed the gun at his son and Dustin said, ‘He’s only a boy,’” Mike Wakefield, the victim’s uncle, who was not in the area during the shooting, told the Miami Herald.
Wakefield was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital after officers arrived at the scene, where he was pronounced dead.
“Dustin stood up between the gunman and the baby and he shot him. He shot him multiple times on the ground,” his uncle said. “He was the kindest kid. He loved his family. He loved being a dad.”
Tamarius Blair Davis, Jr., a 22-year-old from Georgia, was arrested at the scene, according to the police report.
“He started dancing on top of the guy,” a witness described Davis’ alleged actions after the shooting. “I don’t know why.”
Davis eventually fled the restaurant, with cellphone footage obtained by the Herald showing Davis on the ground in a nearby alleyway before being taken into custody.
“What was so strange is the guy that was shooting, they said he was smiling and laughing the whole time that he was shooting the guy,” a second witness told WSVN.
Police said Davis confessed to randomly picking out two men to shoot while he “was high on mushrooms, which made him feel empowered,” the Associated Press reported. The other targeted man was not injured in the incident.
Davis was later charged with second-degree murder and second-degree murder with a weapon.
“It makes me feel awful, especially when I’m bringing friends and family that I know and love to share the beautiful city that I was born and raised in, and I grew up here,” local Cindy Rudin told WSVN. “It really makes me feel really sad.”
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