Arrest Links Miami Shooting to Hialeah Heist

Miami-Dade authorities said on May 19 that a man already jailed in a Miami attempted murder case has been charged in a separate Hialeah jewelry robbery. Zion K. Smith, 35, was arrested earlier this month on a second-degree attempted murder charge tied to a Jan. 26 shooting in Miami, according to Miami-Dade jail records and an arrest warrant. He now also faces an armed robbery charge in a case involving two necklaces the victim valued at $50,000, NBC 6 South Florida reported, citing police records. The new allegation links a Liberty City shooting investigation to an early-morning robbery in Hialeah less than three months later. ### How did the Miami shooting case first put Smith on investigators’ radar? A Jan. 26 shooting near Northwest 18th Avenue and Northwest 52nd Street left 53-year-old Andre Russel hospitalized, according to an arrest warrant cited by NBC 6 South Florida. Witnesses told investigators that a man got out of a white Hyundai with a temporary tag and opened fire as Russel stood outside his home, the report said. Russel ran, but the gunman chased him and continued shooting, according to the warrant. (nbcmiami.com) Surveillance video from that day showed the Hyundai moving through the area, and detectives determined that Smith was the driver, the warrant said. Kenneth Knott, 36, whom authorities identified as the man who rented the Hyundai and as the alleged shooter, was arrested in April on an attempted second-degree murder charge, according to jail records cited by NBC 6 and Local 10. (nbcmiami.com) ### What do police say happened in Hialeah on April 28? The April 28 robbery happened at about 4:30 a.m. in the 11200 block of West 43rd Avenue in Hialeah, according to an arrest report cited by NBC 6 South Florida. Police said the victim had just arrived at his workplace when an Audi SUV pulled up beside him. A gunman got out, pointed a weapon at him and began removing two necklaces from his neck, while a second gunman helped and a third suspect moved into the driver’s seat of the SUV, the report said. (nbcmiami.com) The stolen jewelry included a necklace with a Saint Lazaro medallion, and the victim told police the two pieces were worth $50,000, the report said. The suspects then drove away in the Audi, according to the same report. ### What evidence do detectives say ties Smith to that robbery? Detectives identified the Audi SUV as a rental vehicle and reviewed surveillance footage recorded about two hours after the robbery, NBC 6 reported. (nbcmiami.com) That footage showed Smith in the front passenger seat wearing a thick gold necklace with a large gold medallion that police said strongly resembled the victim’s stolen necklace. NBC 6 reported that investigators also used cellphone data and pawn shop records to connect Smith to the Hialeah case. Those records, according to the station’s account of the arrest paperwork, formed part of the basis for the armed robbery charge now listed against him. ### Where does Kenneth Knott fit into the timeline? (nbcmiami.com) Kenneth Knott appears in the public reporting only in the Miami shooting case, not as a charged participant in the Hialeah robbery based on the records cited by NBC 6. Police said Knott rented the white Hyundai used in the Jan. 26 shooting and was arrested in April on an attempted second-degree murder charge. (nbcmiami.com) The available reporting does not say whether prosecutors plan additional charges against other people in the Hialeah robbery. NBC 6’s account names Smith as the person newly charged in that case and says the robbery allegation was added while he was already in custody. ### What happens next in the case? (nbcmiami.com) Miami-Dade jail records showed on May 19 that Smith was being held on the attempted murder case and the added armed robbery charge, NBC 6 reported. Public case and jail databases maintained by Miami-Dade County are the next likely places where hearing dates, formal filings and any bond decisions will appear as prosecutors move the robbery case forward. That timeline had not been detailed in the public reporting reviewed for this story. (nbcmiami.com)