Cops got a tip a murder suspect was hiding in an old hospital. It’s been called haunted

Police got a tip that a suspect in the machete murder of a woman and child was hiding in an abandoned hospital building flanking the Golden Glades Interchange.

Heavily armed cops surrounded the building and searched on Monday afternoon. They were looking to arrest Noel Chambers in the killing of Lorrice Harris and her young daughter over the weekend.

Once again, the hulking former hospital was at the center of the news, with TV choppers flying overheard.

Here is the story of the ghostly building from the Miami Herald archives:

It’s hard to miss — the graffiti-covered, 11-story building that is an eyesore for drivers getting on the Palmetto Expressway at the Golden Glades Interchange.

There’s little trace of what the building was in its former life — an acute-care hospital.

Inside, the building can be confused for a haunted house, one Miami Gardens official said a few years ago. “You don’t know if anything is going to fall on your head, there’s a musty smell and it’s just creepy.” she said.

Constructed in 1972, the building opened in 1974 as Parkway Regional West with 307 beds. It closed in 2002 and has since sat vacant, attracting vagrants and other trespassers — even though the property is surrounded by an iron fence.

While the city has tried for years to get the previous owner to make changes, the building fell into disarray. Police have nabbed trespassers. Liens mounted to nearly $2 million for code violations.

And on Monday afternoon, the vacant building at a major highway interchange, was at the center of attention again.

This story was originally published April 2, 2019 at 7:52 AM.