crime

A Key West man was arrested this week on a federal charge after planning to bury a backpack timer bomb on the beach and set it off remotely with a cell phone, according to a charging document unsealed Tuesday. 

According to the affidavit, Harlem Suarez, 23, listed his "likes" on a Facebook account under his real name as "Jihadist," "Extraordinary Prayer for ISIS" and "Prayers for ISIS: Weapons of our Warfare." 

JUPITER, FLA. -- Onesimo Lopez-Ramos immigrated to the U.S. from Guatemala -- one of the most violent countries in the western hemisphere. But even living in the quiet town of Jupiter, Fla., at the northern end of Palm Beach County, he couldn't escape lethal brutality.

The 18-year-old Lopez-Ramos was killed this past April, allegedly by three young white men who said they were targeting immigrants -- or "Guat-hunting" as one of them told police afterward in a disturbing confession.

Four male students are accused of raping a mentally disabled girl in a janitor's closet at North Miami Senior High earlier this year. The cases are making it through the legal system, but it turns out there may have been another rape at the school months earlier. 

The students accused — Kenoldo Alexis, Derek Bynum, Steven Joseph and David Lombard — are between 15 and 18 years old. Court records say the four slipped into the closet with the girl and gang-raped her. 

The Miami Herald's Christina Veiga covered the story. Hear an interview with her below.

Monroe County, which includes the Florida Keys, could soon follow Miami-Dade's lead in allowing civil citations for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

The measure would allow police officers discretion on whether to arrest someone on a misdemeanor charge or give them a civil citation, which can result in a fine. The Miami-Dade ordinance, which was approved last month, applies to possession of 20 grams of pot or less.

In the early 20th century, kidnappings were a scourge on the nation.

The Charles Lindbergh baby kidnapping of 1932 epitomized a time of widespread fear -- the taking of the famous aviator's son resulted in the FBI's involvement, and later the Federal Kidnapping Act, granting the Bureau jurisdiction in these cases.

A well-known Miami anti-violence activist is suddenly dealing with her own tragedy.

Tangela Sears' son, David Queen, 29, was fatally shot after an argument at his apartment complex in Tallahassee two weeks ago. A suspect has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

Queen was a Miami native. Sears is now trying to make sense of losing her only child to gun violence, the very thing she’s been fighting here for over a decade.

  The Supreme Court will examine Florida's capital punishment system in its next term, and legal experts believe Florida's death penalty itself may be in danger.

A solution could be in a legislative fix now moving slowly through the Capitol in Tallahassee. It's been passed by one Senate committee but the House is showing little interest in the companion bill.

  On the Florida Roundup, we talk to the area's journalists about the week's top stories.

2011 Memorial Day Weekend Shooting