Adrian Cosby was mostly stone-faced Friday as Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Miguel M. de la O read a jury verdict that found him guilty of murdering a teenage high school student four years ago during a botched robbery.
He began shaking slightly as the father of Andrea Camps-Lacayo, the 18-year-old senior he was convicted of murdering, began to speak during the sentencing phase.
And he erupted and chaos reigned in courtroom 4-1 of Miami-Dade’s criminal courthouse when Alex Camps turned to Cosby, called him a “monster,” then blamed his actions on his upbringing.
“What the f— you talking about,” was one of the few things Cosby said before about four Miami-Dade Corrections and law enforcement officers were able to subdue him as he tried to get to Camps and get over a low wall behind him where family and friends had been sitting.
READ MORE: Chaos erupts in courtroom after man convicted of murdering teen leaps at her father
By then, everyone in the courtroom were on their feet. Some were moving for cover. Others, angered at the verdict and Camps’ speech, were screaming at him and racing to get out of the courtroom. About 20 minutes later, once order was restored, de la O read his sentencing. Cosby had not returned.
Life for the murder of Andrea Camps-Lacayo. Life for the attempted murder of her boyfriend Sergio Berben. And 25 years for the attempted strong-arm robbery of the teen couple who were students at West Kendall’s Terra Environmental Research Institute.
“I told you last time that I can’t give you justice,” de la O said to the family. “This is a tragedy for everybody. They lost their son and you lost your daughter. And there’s nothing I can do for anyone.”
Jury said Cosby fired fatal bullet
It took jurors less than two hours to decide that Cosby, 22, fired the bullet that killed Camps-Lacayo during a bungled attempt to rob three pair of rare and expensive sneakers from her boyfriend Berben in Homestead four years ago. Cosby is the second defendant in the case to be found guilty. In February, George Oshane Walton, 24, was sentenced to life in prison for taking part in the murder.
READ MORE: ‘You robbed us forever,’ mom of girl killed in botched sneaker robbery tells killer
Jurors learned that Berben, through a friend, agreed to meet a man named Eric Readon who was to purchase three pair of Yeezys — a joint venture between rap superstar Kanye West and Addidas — for $935. Berben, a sneaker head, had been making extra cash since middle school selling black market sneakers through an Instagram account.
By that April 7, 2020, day, Berben and Readon had not yet agreed where to meet, so Berben took Camps-Lacayo to breakfast.
As they were eating, Berben’s cellphone rang. It was Readon, telling him to meet in a Homestead subdivsion. So Berben set off in his white Jeep Wrangler, Camps-Lacayo in the passenger seat. Once the couple entered the gated community, he spoke to Readon again, who told him to park in front of an abandoned home down the street.
Berben told jurors he was holding one pair of the shoes, his girlfriend the other two when Walton showed up instead of Readon. They began speaking through the driver’s side window. Walton never displayed a weapon or tried to steal the shoes.
But as they were talking, Berben said, he noticed, through his sideview mirror, that Cosby was making his way toward the Jeep from behind. As Cosby got next to Walton, he opened fire, striking Berben first in the left arm, the bullet exiting and hitting Camps-Lacayo in the stomach.
Berben floored the Jeep and raced outside the complex, where he called 911. Camps-Lacayo lost consciousness as he was holding a towel to her bullet wound and listening to instructions from the 911 operator.
Defense said Cosby wasn’t shooter
During closing arguments Friday, defense attorney Dustin Tischler pressed jurors on the lack of physical and forensic evidence produced at trial and said Berben was mistaken in identifying Cosby as the shooter.
He showed jurors how easy it is to make a mistake during a tense situation by pointing out that he at first told police Walton was wearing a black shirt, when he was dressed in a white sweatshirt the day of the shooting.
“This was an unspeakable tragedy. Andrea was a beautiful, beautiful girl and had her whole life ahead of her,” Tischler said during closing arguments. “But he [Berben] made a mistake in that brief one or two seconds that the firearm was produced and fired. He said it was Cosby.”
On rebuttal, Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Sara Imm said she found it unbelievable that the defense would expect jurors to believe that Cosby, who had been with Walton earlier and was with him again after the murder, just accidentally showed up at the Jeep when Camps-Lacayo was killed.
“The video [grainy and from a distance] clearly shows you which person has the firearm,” she said.
After closing and before the eruption, Alex Camps put an arm around Berben and told him the family loved him.
“We want you know that nothing that happened that day is your fault,” Camps said speaking to Berben. “It’s really the fault of three monsters.”
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