Thirty-year-old Black man Robert Denardes Whittle Jr. was shot on the evening of August 6, 2025, inside Ike's Food Center at 3374 Douglas Road in Miami's Coconut Grove. Officers responded to the scene after reports of gunfire, and paramedics rushed Whittle to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died from his injuries. Another man was hurt in the encounter but declined hospital treatment, according to early reports.
In the days that followed, detectives identified Whittle as the victim and appealed for the public's help, offering a $5,000 reward as they searched for the gunman. The killing rattled a well-traveled corner of Coconut Grove, and police canvassed the area for witnesses and leads as community members grappled with the sudden violence.
By late August, investigators announced an arrest. Miami police took 33-year-old Keith Leebrooks Wilson into custody and accused him of shooting Whittle inside the market; authorities said the attack unfolded after a confrontation. Wilson was arrested on Friday, August 22, and taken into custody in the Opa-locka area, bringing a measure of resolution to a case that began with a frantic push for tips and a public reward.
News outlets and memorial pages later recorded Whittle's death as a Miami homicide on August 6, 2025, noting his age and the circumstances of the shooting. As the legal process moved forward, the arrest marked the first major development since the initial plea for information, shifting the focus from the hunt for a suspect to the courts and the details of what happened inside the neighborhood store that night.
