MOTHER'S DEATH
Grieving mom joins son in death after North Miami Beach crash
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BY ELINOR J. BRECHER, DAVID OVALLE AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH
ebrecher@MiamiHerald.com
Emily Anderson slept standing up -- with her eyes open.
Really she did, said her sister, Miami police Officer Michelle Harris, because she worked day and night at two jobs to give her kids and grandkids what they needed.
``She never wanted them to have to go without,'' Harris said. ``She worked to make sure they didn't have to go to anybody for anything.''
Even after her son, Michael Johnson, was shot to death last November, Anderson pushed beyond her grief, declining an offer of three months' leave.
``I have bills to pay,'' she told her mother, Betty Anderson, of Carol City.
Emily Anderson was 40 and working 19-hour days to support herself, daughter Emibrly, 23, and two grandsons, ages 4 and 6. A third grandchild is due in October.
About 8 p.m. Sunday, a man in a speeding car robbed that child of a grandmother -- a woman who, relatives say, loved to dance and kept everyone laughing despite profound sorrow over Michael.
North Miami Beach police say Exzavier D. Robinson, 27, was driving a silver Chrysler when he plowed into the Bryant Security vehicle that Emily was driving at Northeast 15th Avenue and 179th Street.
She died at the scene. Colleague Charles Edward Hall, 35, of North Miami -- Anderson's cousin -- remained in critical condition Wednesday at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
HANDBAG HEIST
Shortly before the crash, Robinson bolted from Aventura Mall, where, police said, he and a companion stole handbags from Macy's.
At a bond hearing on Wednesday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jorge Cueto found probable cause only for a charge of vehicular homicide.
Under state law, someone who commits certain felonies in which someone dies can be held for murder. But Cueto partly agreed with Robinson's defense attorney who argued that the wreck and the alleged shoplifting were unrelated.
``The accident happened about three miles away,'' said Peter Heller of the Cochran Firm. ``There was no police chase. It's a very tragic situation, but I see an infraction fatality. It's not a felony murder situation.''
Robinson also remains at Jackson -- in the jail ward -- pending a $37,500 bond. Formal charges have yet to be filed, but prosecutors can file more serious counts at Robinson's Aug. 24 arraignment.
In addition to her job with Bryant, Emily Anderson supervised the front desk at the Nordica Condominium in Miami's Roads section.
``She wanted everyone to be comfortable and not look at her as the boss,'' said Rodney Boynton, who joined the Nordica front desk in February. ``She wanted everyone to feel like a family.''
Sometimes she would tell Boynton: `` `If I'm not acting right, it's because of what happened, but overlook it. I'll bounce back. I'm a strong woman, just overlook it when I'm not too talkative.' ''
``What happened'' was Michael's death during Thanksgiving week 2008. Miami police say an attacker approached the car where Michael sat with a friend and opened fire with a 9mm handgun.
``He was my sunshine,'' Anderson said at the time. ``He never gave me any trouble.''
Far from it, Betty Anderson said.
``He cooked and washed and cleaned'' in addition to working full-time. ``He was her heart and her love.''
She wanted her son to ``get a decent education and grow up to be a prosperous young man,'' sister Michelle said.
Michael Anthony Deas, 25, awaits trial on multiple felony charges, including murder, in Michael's death -- apparently a case of mistaken identity.
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