Man accused of violent crime spree guilty of first-degree murder. State seeks death
A man accused of going on a month-long violent binge that left two people dead and two others shot moved a step closer to death row Thursday, when a jury found him guilty of the pre-meditated murder of a small-time weed dealer more than a decade ago.
It took jurors five hours to find Anthawn Ragan, 30, guilty of first-degree murder in the November 2013 killing of Luis Miguel Perez, who was 21 when Ragan and an accomplice stalked him at a North Miami motel, chased him up the steps and gunned him down on the second floor walkway just a few feet from his apartment door.
Ragan, seated between defense attorneys Tony Moss and Adam Goodman, showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Those in the gallery also remained stoic. The courtroom emptied quickly with attorneys and the few family members in the courtroom leaving quickly to avoid the media.
Ragan, who sat quietly throughout most of the four-day trial, was led away by a Miami-Dade corrections officer.
“We’ll save our comments for sentencing in May,” said Ragan attorney Tony Moss.
State prosecutors said they were seeking the death penalty because of the brazenness of the murder. He was found guilty of attempted murder at an earlier trial. Jurors were told during the trial of shell casings found at the murder scene that matched the weapon used in other crimes.
Ragan is also awaiting trial on a separate incident in which he’s accused of the shooting death of a 10-year-old boy at a nail salon and the attempted murder of the child’s father, three weeks later.
Defense attorneys tried but failed to sow doubt with jurors that Ragan and cohort Terry Nealy plotted Perez’s murder. They insisted that state prosecutors couldn’t possibly know what their client was thinking and that the killing of Perez could have been instantaneous, perhaps during a bungled drug deal.
They put up no witnesses and Ragan refused to testify.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez set Ragan’s sentencing date for May 6.
No motive offered
The conviction came quickly despite prosecutors never offering jurors a motive for the shooting — which isn’t necessary for a conviction.
In a statement to police after the murder, Perez’s girlfriend said he called her in tears about two weeks before he was killed. It was never clear why. She said all he told her was that he had gotten in some type of trouble. She told police it probably had something to do with his drug supplier.
The motive didn’t appear to be robbery. A friend who had just returned with Perez from a convenience store across the street told police Perez had about $800 in his pocket and that Ragan never tried to take it.
And, according to police, Ragan didn’t attempt to enter Perez’s room just down the hallway, despite the room key lying on the ground next to him after he was shot.
Police said the murder of Perez ended a month-long spree of violence in November 2013 by Ragan that included four people shot and two killed in three separate incidents. In between, police say, Ragan held up a Liberty City convenience store, a North Miami hamburger joint and a Northwest Miami-Dade dollar store.
Murder #1
The first shooting was the murder of Perez on Nov. 1 at the Motel Seven in North Miami. A cohort of Ragan’s — who shot Perez eight times, but worked out a plea agreement to testify against Ragan — said the two men were on the way to a strip club when Ragan suggested they stop and buy some drugs.
Video shows the two men waiting in the motel parking lot inside a black Nissan Maxima as Perez and a friend walk past. After a few seconds, Ragan bounds out of the car and up the steps, where video shows he didn’t hesitate to fire three times at Perez, two of the shots entering through his backside.
Retired Miami-Dade Medical Examiner Emma Lew testified the shots could have been fatal. Almost immediately after Ragan fired, Nealy is seen brushing past him and firing eight more times into Perez as he lay on the ground. The two men then race down the stairs back to the car and take off. Nealy, testifying at an unrelated trial involving Ragan, said they went to the strip club after shooting Perez.
Second shooting
The next shooting according to police was on Nov. 7, when Ragan pulled up to a man riding his bike home at 2 a.m., and told him to hand over his money. Kevin Burke was shot as he tried to pedal away. He survived a month in the hospital.
The case went cold until 2019, when forensic experts linked the gun used in the Burke shooting to the shooting deaths of the 10-year-boy at the nail salon and Perez. Ragan was found guilty of attempted murder of the cyclist and lost an appeal attempt.
Then on Nov. 22, state prosecutors say, Ragan and another man entered the Hong Kong Nails Salon just outside of North Miami and stole $300 worth of cash and jewelry at gunpoint. But before leaving, police say Ragan turned back toward the store and fired several rounds. One struck store owner Hai Nam Vu, another killed his 10-year-old son Aaron Vu. No trial date has been set for that case.
Admitted accomplice refuses to testify
The trial took only four days because of the unexpected refusal of the state’s key witness to testify, despite working out a plea agreement with the state that would significantly reduce his sentence. Not long after his 2013 arrest, Nealy agreed to testify against Ragan in exchange for a 20-year sentence and probation.
But earlier in the week after being escorted to court, Nealy was hesitant to even take the stand before telling Tinkler Mendez he didn’t want to be there, had no recollection of any agreement and didn’t understand what was going on. He was eventually dismissed.
Jurors also heard a transcript of Nealy’s testimony from an earlier trial involving Ragan in which he said Ragan fired first, and he ran up the steps after hearing a gunshot, then fired at Perez. Nealy also said Ragan threatened to kill him and family members if Nealy didn’t keep quiet about the shooting.
Aside from shortening the length of the trial and leaving the state scrambling, the dismissal of Nealy could mean he ends up in prison well beyond 2050. Had he testified, the 33-year-old would have been released around 2030.
This story was originally published April 3, 2025 at 6:12 PM.
