Miami man charged with murder was to remain jailed before trial. He was released by mistake.
A Miami man awaiting trial for murder spent two days on the lam after the county jail system mistakenly released him from custody this week.
Bobby Whipple, 50, was supposed to be jailed while awaiting trial after his 2020 arrest for second-degree murder, a charge that normally requires a defendant to be held with no bond. But on Tuesday, the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department released Whipple, who had just finished a simultaneous 30-day sentence for contempt of court.
The department declined to detail how the error happened, or whether any employees would be disciplined. Whipple was re-arrested and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Thursday evening.
“As soon as the error was discovered, MDCR requested the assistance from our law enforcement partners which located the offender,” the corrections department said in a statement. “Our review of the circumstances surrounding this inmate release is ongoing, to include a full internal investigation. Due to the on-going nature of the investigation, no further comment can be made at this time.”
Whipple is accused of murder for allegedly shooting Dezmine Khalil in Liberty City on May 8, 2020. After he was caught, he claimed that Khalil had “attempted to produce a firearm” during an argument over supposedly stolen money. But surveillance video showed that Khalil was riding his bicycle away when Whipple took out a gun and shot him to death, according to a Miami police report.
He’s been in the news before.
Back in 1997, Whipple was shot 23 times by Miami-Dade police officers after neighbors reported him wielding a gun on the street. It turned out, he had been wearing a sock on his hand while he worked on his car. Fourteen officers surrounded Whipple, and five opened fire. He survived after a stay at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
He’s been in and out of jail over the years, and has racked up convictions for burglary with battery, cocaine possession and resisting arrest.
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 10:52 AM.