Charges dropped against teen in killing of rabbi walking to temple
MIAMI -- Charges have been dropped against a teenager accused of killing a New York rabbi in Miami.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said in a statement Tuesday that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove without a doubt that 16-year-old Deandre Charles was guilty of killing Rabbi Joseph Raksin, according to various news outlets.
The 60-year-old Brooklyn man was fatally shot Aug. 9, 2014, as he walked to a temple in Miami, where he had been visiting family. At the time, authorities said the slaying appeared to have been a robbery gone bad, but they had not ruled out a hate crime.
The state had been relying on DNA evidence and cellphone records to charge Charles. Prosecutors said the gun used in Raksin’s death had been used 30 hours before in an armed robbery. In April, however, a judge deemed the evidence flimsy and granted him bail, reports CBS Miami.
Charles’ attorney Adam Goodman says his client has maintained his innocence since his 2015 arrest on murder and robbery charges. Charles was 14 at the time Raksin was killed.
“He did not do this,” Goodman told CBS Miami. “He was not there that day. This was a travesty.”