Accident – Death – Obituary News :
MIAMI— A man was arrested late last month for allegedly killing a 61-year-old man in a Miami ambush robbery back in January.
On Saturday, the City of Miami Police announced that its Homicide Unit had arrested 44-year-old Nathaniel Martin, who they stated was a suspect in the “ambush armed robbery” of Wilfredo Artiles shortly after midnight on January 25.
Scene of the Crime
According to the arrest affidavit, Miami Police responded to a ShotSpotter alert at the Studio 60 nightclub on 2300 Northwest 36th Street in Allapattah around 12:24 a.m. Upon arrival, officers found a man — later identified as Artiles — inside of his car, slumped over in the driver’s seat and suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Miami Fire Rescue responded shortly after to perform life-saving measures. Artiles was then transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died around 1:55 a.m.
The medical examiner ruled Artiles’ death as a homicide, confirming that he died from multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head.
Surveillance Video Evidence
After reviewing the club’s surveillance video, Martin was seen wearing dark clothing and sitting on a bus bench in front of Studio 60 before Artiles and the handyman left the club around 12:22 a.m. As the handyman entered his vehicle and drove off, Artiles then entered his car, exited the parking lot and parked his vehicle on Northwest 23rd Avenue, facing southbound and directly outside of the parking lot’s gate. It was at this moment that Martin then approached Artiles, pulled out a gun and shot him, before opening the driver’s side door and rummaged through the car, grabbing the car keys and Artiles’ cellphone.
Despite Martin’s efforts to wipe his fingerprints off Artiles’ car, Miami Police CSI personnel was able to recover a latent fingerprint from outside the driver’s side door that matched Martin’s prints.
Police Investigation
Police canvassed the area surrounding Studio 60 for surveillance video to determine Martin’s escape route. They located over 10 different cameras, which showed that after leaving the scene, Martin ran toward a nearby school before hiding in the parking lot of an auto sales store.
On January 31, Miami Police received information about Martin’s Facebook page, which helped confirm his identity. On February 25, Martin was arrested by Miami Gardens Police for unrelated charges, leading to his interrogation by Miami Police.
Interrogation and Arrest
Martin confirmed his identity in most of the surveillance videos shown to him, but denied being the person seen shooting Artiles. When asked why he hid from police after the shooting, Martin claimed he was hiding to smoke marijuana.
Martin is currently being held at Metro West Detention Center.
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