Home Scandal and Gossip Miami man charged w/ attempted murder shooting at un-armed burglar

Miami man charged w/ attempted murder shooting at un-armed burglar

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Corthoris Jamal Jenkins
Pictured, Corthoris Jamal Jenkins. Image via police bookings.
Corthoris Jamal Jenkins
Pictured, Corthoris Jamal Jenkins. Image via police bookings.

Corthoris Jamal Jenkins Miami man charged with attempted murder after chasing and shooting un-armed burglar, Xavier West. Case tests Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. 

A Miami, Florida man who allegedly chased an un-armed burglar and shot him several times as he begged for his life is facing an attempted first degree murder charge.

Corthoris Jamal Jenkins, 28, was playing video games Tuesday in the bedroom of his North-Miami Dade apartment when a suspected burglar, Xavier West entered, the Miami Herald reports.

Rather than calling cops, Jenkins decided to handle the situation on his own, with the resident grabbing an assault-style rifle and shooting West several times while West was on his knees after chasing him down a street, police and prosecutors said.

‘He begins to what appears to be to beg for his life,’ Miami-Dade Detective Iry Watson told a judge Wednesday.

‘But the defendant takes the assault rifle and shoots him multiple times.’

Jenkins, who first told police he ‘blacked out’ prior to the shooting, seemingly admitted to gunning down West during Wednesday’s hearing, the Herald reported.

‘I didn’t shoot him while he was on the ground,’ Jenkins told a judge. ‘I’m the victim, ma’am.’

Judge Mindy Glazer disagreed with that claim, according to the report.

‘You’re the victim of a potential burglary, but you can’t just go around shooting people,’ Glazer retorted.

Prosecutors also insisted that video shows Jenkins’ actions were premeditated — and Glazer backed up that assessment in court. 

‘He had time for reflection as he’s pointing the gun as he’s begging on his knees,’ the judge said. ‘That’s premeditation.’

West was recovering Wednesday at a hospital in Miami. An update on his condition was not immediately available early Friday.

‘He’s still intubated from his injuries,’ Watson said Wednesday.

Not immediately clear is whether West and Jenkins had any connection prior to Tuesday’s attempted burglary.

Jenkins, who remains held without bond Friday on a charge of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, was found by cops walking away from the scene following the shooting and immediately turned over his weapon, according to a police report.

The case may be another legal test of Florida’s Stand Your Ground self-defense law, which allows for the use of lethal force if there is fear for immediate loss of life. 

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