NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. – Rodney Louis, 27, was denied bond by a Miami-Dade County judge on Wednesday, a day after he allegedly shot a wheelchair-bound man and then led police on chase that ended on Interstate 95 near the Miami Gardens exit.
Louis is charged with first-degree murder, grand theft, fleeing and eluding police and resisting arrest. Police said Louis approached the victim, 58-year-old Israel Zerquera, from behind and shot him, before leading police on a high-speed chase throughout the county.
Louis' public defender asked the court to zoom in on his face Wednesday morning to document the injuries he received in the crash that ended it all.
Meanwhile the victim's wife, Carmen Perez, told Local 10 News she has no idea why someone would want to kill her husband.
In Spanish, Perez said the only ones who know what happened are Rodney Louis and her husband, but her husband is dead.
Zerquera was a fixture at the exit ramp on Northwest 95 Street and Seventh Avenue where he was killed. Neighbors saw him there daily asking for money and selling water. Now flowers, balloons and an unmistakable stain of blood mark the spot where he died.
His daughter-in-law, Nancy, said she will continue selling water on the opposite corner from where he was killed to help pay for his funeral.
"I do what I can and the rest of the family too," said Nancy.
As for Perez, she said she knows her beloved husband is in heaven because he was a good Christian.