A 29-year-old woman was arrested this week after being charged in the 2024 murder of Alec Hugh-Sam, a Jamaican-American father of two.
He was killed just hours after he had struck her during an encounter in Miami-Dade County.
According to Local10 News, detectives believe Yesenia Collier conspired with another woman and a gunman to orchestrate the fatal shooting of Hugh-Sam in Miramar.
Authorities say Hugh-Sam and Collier had spent time together at the Ghost Bar in Davie and later at Klub 24 in Opa-locka, where he reportedly slapped her in the face.
“He shot the [racial slur],” Collier said during a 911 call related to the shooting, according to records from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. She was also heard shouting, “He shot him! He shot him!” during the call.
Fatal shooting and investigation
Miramar police officers responding to the scene on Oct. 3, 2024, found Hugh-Sam “lying in the middle of the street” at the Avalon Miramar Park Place. Authorities say Steven LaPenta, 34, shot him once.
Hugh-Sam, who was born in New Jersey and raised in Jamaica, was transported to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Broward County, where he later died. He was 36 years old and had lived in South Florida since 2014.
According to a 69-page indictment, the shooting stemmed from a dispute over $3,500. A Florida grand jury indicted Collier, LaPenta, and Lindsey Grinage on Oct. 31 for Hugh-Sam’s murder. LaPenta had already been arrested on Oct. 6.
Prosecutors have since filed a capital life case against Collier, and a judge issued a warrant for her arrest. Deputies arrested Grinage, 28, on Nov. 14, followed by Collier’s arrest on Tuesday.
As of Wednesday evening (yesterday), records show LaPenta was being held at the main jail in Fort Lauderdale, while Collier was detained at the Paul Rein Detention Facility in Pompano Beach.
Grinage was no longer in custody in Broward, while both LaPenta and Collier faced charges of first-degree murder with a firearm.
