Police have charged 33-year-old Keith Leebrooks Wilson in the Aug. 6 shooting at Ike’s Food Center in Coconut Grove that left one man dead.
Miami Police have arrested a man for the murder of 30-year-old Robert Denardes Whittle Jr. earlier this month inside Ike’s Food Center in Coconut Grove, in what local Police Commander Freddie Cruz called an isolated narcotics and gang-related event.
Keith Leebrooks Wilson, 33, was taken into custody on Friday Aug. 22 in Opa-locka, just over two weeks after the Aug. 6 shooting inside the well-trafficked market on the corner of Douglas Road and Florida Avenue.
Wilson has been charged with second-degree murder and is being held without bond.
The deadly assault began just before 6:30 p.m. on a Wednesday evening when Wilson arrived at the scene on a stand-up motorized scooter and chased Whittle inside the store, police said.
Wilson then fired his gun multiple times – striking Whittle – before fleeing, in a scene captured by surveillance cameras, according to the arrest warrant.
Whittle suffered four gunshot wounds, including at least one wound to the back. He was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead an hour later.
Following the shooting, multiple witnesses identified Wilson as the shooter shown in surveillance video. A warrant for his arrest was issued on Aug. 8. That same day, police announced a $5,000 reward for information that could lead to his arrest.
Miami Police have not said if the reward was claimed, but stated they were able to locate Wilson in Opa-locka through investigative efforts. The home address police listed for Wilson – 134 Oak Avenue – is within easy walking distance of Ike’s market.
Wilson previously was charged with two misdemeanors for domestic battery in 2013 and July 2025, which were dismissed and dropped respectively.
Whittle also had a criminal past. He was convicted of three felonies for crimes committed in 2015, including attempted murder with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a firearm, and fleeing and eluding police.
His life was celebrated by friends and family with a wake, a balloon release, and a funeral at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church that was videotaped.
Also known as “Rob Diez,” Whittle was honored by those who gathered for the event, dressed in black and red, some wearing shirts made in his honor.
Whittle joined the Macedonia Missionary church community in 2005, attending Sunday School. At the funeral service, his uncle Andre Whittle spoke of their memories together from Whittle’s childhood.
“As his educator, we rode to school together many mornings. We listened to jazz every day. We would share moments, I would try to inspire him. He was an outstanding student,” the uncle said, in remarks that were videotaped and posted on Facebook.
Other speakers at the funeral acknowledged Whittle’s troubled past and his desire to move beyond it. “I found solace in the fact that he was happy out of all the ups and downs in life. He had finally found a place where he could be happy in the man he needed to be,” said his aunt Vanessa Lester, with whom he lived for a time in Tampa. Whittle is Coconut Grove’s third shooting victim this year and second to have died from his wounds.
I find it morally wrong and deeply disrespectful to speak on the death of a Coconut Grove native — a victim of murder — and reference his past as though it somehow justifies the violence that ended his life.
That part of the article was not only unnecessary but irresponsible journalism. Robert did not die on probation; he died a man who had served his time, corrected his path, and was living his life rightfully and honorably.
To publish something so careless is a failure of both writing and editorial review. It is insensitive, harmful, and offensive to a family already grieving an unimaginable loss.
— A proud Coconut Grove native with a background in journalism