Miami man charged for killing girlfriend’s brothers. Will he claim self-defense?
A man who, police say, gunned down his girlfriend’s two brothers as they tried to protect her was formally charged, prosecutors said during a Tuesday hearing.
Antwan Carter, 31, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder for the killings of 23-year-old Jaheim Pierre and 28-year-old Gianni Pierre. Carter, who was initially booked on first-degree murder charges, has pleaded not guilty.
On May 2, Carter was in the apartment that he shares with his girlfriend when he shot the brothers with a Glock 9 mm handgun, according to detectives. The woman’s brothers came to her apartment “to look after her” because of a “history of previous domestic violence” between the couple, who had been together for about four years, according to an arrest report.
READ MORE: Miami man is accused of fatally shooting girlfriend’s two brothers
Also on Tuesday, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Lody Jean set a tentative trial date for Aug. 17. Loved ones of the Pierre brothers attended the hearing via Zoom.
Fight ends in barrage of bullets
Moments before the gunfire, Jaheim Pierre and his sister were arguing — and Carter interrupted them, the report says. Jaheim Pierre punched Carter, sparking a fight among the three men inside the apartment, located on the 5300 block of Northwest 17th Avenue in Liberty City.
Surveillance footage captured Carter leaving the apartment, walking to a black sedan and placing “an unknown object” in his front pocket before walking back to the unit, according to the report. He then banged on the door, saying, “I bet one of you won’t open up,” detectives wrote in the report.
When one of the brothers opened the door, Carter rushed inside, pulling the trigger, the report states. The footage, investigators say, caught the sound of several gunshots and a woman screaming.
Gianni Pierre was sitting on a couch when he was hit by a bullet, according to police. Jaheim Pierre ran toward his sister and collapsed on top of her when bullets struck him.
Jaheim Pierre died on the scene, according to the report. Gianni Pierre was taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died minutes after arriving.
After the shooting, Carter told his girlfriend, “See what you made me do,” the woman told investigators.
In an interview with detectives, Carter said he walked out of the apartment to “get a breath of fresh air,” according to the report. He said he returned to the apartment to grab his wallet and keys.
But when he entered the apartment, the brothers “squared up with both fists in the air ready to fight again,” Carter told investigators. That’s when he pulled out the gun and shot them several times, according to the report.
Carter is being held without bond at the Metro West Detention Center. Days after his arrest, the judge ordered Carter to stay away from his relative Javon Carter, who is at the Pretrial Detention Center as he awaits trial on a first-degree murder charge.
Javon Carter is accused of being the hitman who gunned down a Miami federal airport officer in a murder-for-hire plot financed by a PPP loan. He’s facing the death penalty, if convicted.
The next hearing in Antwan Carter’s case is set for June 16.
