Man shot dead near Kush in Wynwood was once a star local high school football player
The man shot dead Friday afternoon near a popular Wynwood eatery was once a local high school football star whose career was sidetracked by a weapons charge and a bulging waistline.
Jose Jose, 28, was killed after a plan to beat up a rival who worked at the Kush gastropub went awry, according to a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation. Jose and a group of friends headed toward Kush because they had some type of beef with the worker, who has not been named by police.
When the worker emerged from the restaurant to toss out some trash, one of the people in Jose’s group fired at and critically wounded him. Then, the wounded man fired back, striking and killing Jose.
On Monday Miami detectives flew to Ohio to extradite Lynwood Walker III, 28, for his suspected involvement in the murder but it remained unclear whether Jose or Walker ever fired a weapon.
“Detectives are still investigating leads and possible motives,” said Miami Police Detective Kiara Delva. “So we’d like anyone with any information to contact us so we can have some closure on this case.”
The shooting on Friday just outside of Kush, 2003 N. Miami Ave., happened just as rush hour was heating up in one of the city’s top tourist destinations. It created chaos on Miami’s streets just north of downtown. Cops on bikes and on foot closed streets and searched for anyone involved in the incident with the help of K9s and helicopters. At one point Brightline shut down train service to downtown and a local magnet school went on lockdown.
On Monday, questions arose about the lockdown of iPrepatory Academy on Biscayne Boulevard, considered the district’s model school, while two other local schools, Phillis Wheatley Elementary and Paul Lawrence Dunbar K-8, remained operational.
Jose, a giant and promising high school offensive lineman at six feet, 320 pounds, starred at Booker T. Washington and then Miami Central Senior High over a decade ago. He verbally committed to play for the Tennessee Volunteers, nixing offers from the University of Miami, Florida and Georgia.
Jose, however, never made it to Knoxville, instead signing with the University of Central Florida and Coach George O’Leary. And his first stint at UCF didn’t last long. Less than a month after National Signing Day, Jose was arrested in Miami-Dade for carrying a concealed weapon and aggravated assault with a firearm.
O’Leary cut him. But he gave the big offensive lineman another chance after the charges were dropped. Less than a year later, after ballooning up to more than 345 pounds, Jose was kicked off the team. O’Leary never articulated why he cut Jose. Jose told the Orlando Sentinel it was because he wasn’t losing weight fast enough “and made some bad decisions.”
This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 4:53 PM.
