Miami man pleads guilty to violently targeting gay men — robbing, nearly killing one, feds say
A Miami man who targeted gay men in South Florida — abducting and robbing them — is looking at spending the rest of his life in prison after he pleaded guilty to those crimes, authorities said.
On Monday, Stevenson Charles changed his plea to guilty on 17 counts of violence, which included kidnapping, carjacking and bank robbery, court documents showed.
READ MORE: Miami-Dade man used Grindr dating app to abduct and stick up potential suitors, feds say
As part of the plea, Charles admitted to targeting gay men on the popular dating app Grindr from late October to early November, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida.
During this time, he invited a man he met on the app to his Miami home for sex. Instead, Charles pulled a gun on him when he arrived, forced him to drive to ATMs and withdraw over $1,000.
Charles would do this again a month later with another man he met on Grindr. He invited him over for sex, pulled out a gun and forced him to drive to pharmacy stores to buy gift cards with his credit card.
However, during this encounter Charles told the man he would kill everyone like the victim after he saw pictures on the man’s phone of him with other men, authorities said.
Charles targeted another man, this time in Dania Beach, in November as well. He told the man he hated gay people and thought they should all be punished.
He ultimately forced the man at gunpoint to drive to a home in Aventura where the victim lived with a couple. Charles forced the trio into their car, went to ATMs and took out over $1,500.
Unlike in his past robberies, Charles took a deadly step forward.
After taking the trio home, he again forced the original man he targeted to drive back to Dania Beach. Once they neared a secluded area by some railroad tracks, Charles shot him several times including once in the head, authorities said.
The man survived the hail of gunfire and called 911. Charles was later found in Georgia and arrested.
Charles will appear before Senior Judge Paul Huck for sentencing on April 24. He could see life in prison and maybe see a hate crime enhancement to his sentencing, officials said.
This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 10:17 PM.
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